Connecting Poetry and Health: Reforming Poetry Therapy for Diverse Populations

Poetry therapy is an arts-based therapy that has the potential to be applied to any population if the facilitator is motivated to work closely and compassionately with people of various backgrounds. Therapeutic poetry workshops were conducted with adults with disabilities and previously incarcerated men over the course of several months. Each workshop was analyzed for successes and areas for improvement, and adaptations were made between consecutive workshops. After the completion of all the workshops, recommendations were provided for working with each population and for applying poetry therapy successfully. Finally, the application of poetry therapy to healthcare, specifically nursing, was addressed as a way to use the knowledge gained from this project to lessen the emotional burden of being a patient and being a healthcare provider.