Poetry Therapy The Irish Poetry Therapy Network Journal Volume 2: Issue 2: Autumn 2017 Volume 1: Issue 2: Autumn 2016
Metaphoric Language Carol Boland Interview with Dennis Tynan Theresa Kelly IPTN 6thAnnual Conference A Visit to Action Week 2017 Part I Geraldine Campbell ‘A True Note on a Slack String’ Book Review
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Contents Editorial Theresa Kelly p.2 Metaphoric Language Carol Boland p.3 A Poem A Day To Save Ourselves Interview with Dennis Tynan Theresa Kelly p.5
Editorial Irish Poetry Therapy Network is a non-profit networking organization that promotes the use of poetry as a healing art. We also provide an environment where participants explore, at first hand, the healing power of poetry and bibliotherapy as a means of identifying and dealing with various life issues.
A Visit to Action Week 2017 - Part I Ger Campbell p.6
Book Review: A True Note on a Slack String by Reamonn O’Donnchadha
Welcome to the Autumn 2017 issue of Poetry Therapy, produced by the Irish Poetry Therapy Network (IPTN). We are grateful to Carol Boland for her piece on Metaphor and how Poetry Therapy can be used in a therapeutic setting to find a further pathway into the unconscious. I love the encouraging way Carol has found to assure those of us who may not believe we are personally creative to put those fears to the side. This is also echoed in the interview with Dennis Tynan where he outlines how poetry has helped him manage his own mental health and the recent challenge he has set himself. We thank him for his generosity and honesty in providing us with this interview. Ger Campbell reviews Action Week 2017 which was held in New York in July - Part I of a two part lively piece. We also include news about upcoming courses and events and a book review on A True Note on a Slack String by Reamonn O’Donnchadha.
Theresa Kelly p.7
Events
Poetry and the Third Eye p.8
Dear Readers,
Contact Us Email: irishpoetrytherapynetwork @gmail.com
Blog: www.irishpoetytherapynetwork. blogspot.ie
We hope you find this issue interesting. As always we invite readers to submit articles, book/poetry/film reviews and workshops relating to the area of poetry therapy and how it supports the personal development and therapeutic development of the individual. Theresa Kelly PTP IAHIP/IACP
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Metaphoric Language ‘Some therapists hesitate in employing metaphor-based therapies, such as Poetry Therapy, in the belief that they themselves lack creative ability’ Carol Boland has recently completed a BSc in psychotherapy. Her thesis focuses on how the use of metaphor is paramount if psychotherapists are to enter the symbolic world of a client, making the unconscious conscious, so leading to emotional healing. This article recounts the Conclusion (edited) of her essay. Once limited to poetic and prose devices, metaphors are now considered inherent components in everyday language, as we look for meaning and try to make sense of our lived experiences. When a client speaks of ‘feeling imprisoned’ or ‘burning with rage’ the therapist witnesses a display of their client’s symbolic mind-set in the form of a conceptual metaphor. These words, in the structure of a code, no longer hold their literal meaning. To access their client’s representational subconscious, client-generated conceptual metaphors, as opposed to therapistgenerated, are vital in the counselling process. Everything can assume symbolic significance for a client, be it a concrete image such as a mountain, or an abstract concept of a journey. These metaphors may be constructed from archetypes, childhood narratives, the media, or any significance source that taps into emotions.
A connection to personal emotions is crucial to a client’s self-development and growth. Through the use of selfmetaphors the connection with the self becomes a less arduous journey for both client and therapist. Indeed, they move a client’s presenting issue or hidden trauma to the safe place of metaphoric speak. This process allows them to engage with painful realities by externalising the experiences. Often inaccessible through other routes, or only after many hours of therapy, a client’s emotional and physical traumas may be effectively interrogated so rendering them powerless or, at least, less powerful. Metaphors assist in shifting our perspective and unlocking ways of thinking that do not work. Not solely limited to creative language, metaphors are also visual in nature i.e. use of imagery and symbols in paintings are vital to the Art Therapy process. Kopp (1992) suggests that changing metaphoric imagery, often established in infancy, can alter a person’s perceptions and so quicken the therapeutic change. How therapists choose to make sense of their client’s world is largely dependent on the method of therapy in which they elect to engage. However,
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if all language is structured by metaphoric images, as Lakoff and Johnson (1980) hold, then every therapist may be handicapped by their own frame of reference when working with a client’s unique language. Discovering the client’s code that unlocks their metaphoric tongue is part of the therapist’s skill that can lead to their client’s transformation. It is in the safety of the counselling room that this unlocking can occur; be it through the use of metaphor therapy, dream therapy or poetry therapy. In addressing the transforming power of metaphor and being open to its creative aspect, a therapist can achieve a deeper therapeutic encounter with a client. Although many therapists respond to and use metaphoric language in the counselling process, I suggest that the full potential of metaphoric language and imagery is still not generally understood or appreciated. This is a process that may well be outside the therapist’s and/or the client’s comfort zone and, if not challenged, could remain restricted to the creative arts and language therapies. To address this issue, training in psychotherapy could include metaphor in its core modules, being intrinsic to our personal
understanding awareness.
and
self-
An active, creative imagination is necessary if any therapist, be they Person Centred, CBT or Integrative, is to work effectively with metaphoric language.Therapies such as Narrative, Dream and Poetry require a willingness on the therapist’s part, and the client’s, to open up this creative element which, I suggest, exists in every person. However, some therapists hesitate in employing metaphor based therapies such as Poetry Therapy, in the belief that they themselves lack creative ability. Indeed, where one considers poetry as a ‘high art’, as some do, how much greater would this resistance be to working with poetry.
‘Metaphor may be considered as both an abstract concept and a concrete reality, where linguistics, narratives, psychology and psychotherapy meet’
In Poetry Therapy it is the poem in tandem with the subsequent discussion, probing word associations and personal interpretation of images and symbols, followed by a piece of writing, that is at the heart of this self-discovery process. It is essential, therefore, that the common view of a poetry therapist as a competent poet be challenged; a gross misrepresentation of how the practice of Poetry Therapy
operates. A programme of awareness-raising in training colleges and professional associations could alter this misleading judgement. Metaphor may be considered as both an abstract concept and a concrete reality, where linguistics, narratives, psychology and psychotherapy meet, working together to bring about a new understanding. Metaphoric language and imagery is a rich source of communication at all levels and, indeed, I suggest, is vital and core if client and therapist are to explore the unconscious reality of a client. Through the use of metaphor, a client may successfully override the resistant conscious mind and achieve a deeper level of self-awareness. A resistance to exploring the metaphoric nature of a client’s language, either through Metaphor, Dream or Poetry therapy, means the selfdiscovery process is disadvantaged and may even falter. By employing these therapeutic processes to open portals to a realm where unconscious and conscious minds meet, therapists can engage in a meaningful way with the client, resetting expectations and restructuring perceptions and understanding to bring about emotional healing. References: Kopp, Richard R. (1995). Metaphor Therapy: using client-generated metaphors in psychotherapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Lakoff G. and Johnson M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago.
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PenFest 2017 Self-Discovery through Poetry with Carol Boland PTP Sunday 24 September 2pm – 4.30pm Carlow Central Library Booking Essential: library@carlowcoco.ie
A Poem A Day To Save Ourselves
Theresa Kelly speaks to Dennis Tynan on how poetry helped him in his life. Dennis Tynan, above left, is 31 years old, from Portlaoise, working as a nurse as he studies for a post-grad in mental health. Recently he has given himself the challenge of writing a poem a day for a year: no mean feat. Recently, I caught up with Dennis to learn more about him and his motivation for taking on such a momentous task. Dennis has suffered with depression for several years but never really found the courage to talk about it, until about 5 years ago. When he eventually spoke to close friends and family, he found it really helped him. Indeed, he discovered that his parents, in particular, were incredibly supportive. ‘Only for my parents I would not have made it through,’ says Dennis. A strong indication of how important he feels his parents’ support was to him - and still is. Once he spoke about his depression, Dennis found he
became more open to seeking help and so began a course of medication and counselling. Although medication and counselling helped, he felt that for him they weren’t the full answer. A lover of poetry, Dennis wrote his first poem when he was 12. In school he enjoyed English, but once he went to college all that went by the wayside. After college, he went to Australia though found he was extremely homesick. To alleviate it, he took up his pen again and began to write.
‘Dennis believes poetry saved him in a lot of ways’ Dennis believes that poetry saved him in a lot of ways. He posted some of his poems on his Facebook page and began to blog about mental health. He was encouraged by friends and received much support throughout the process. Early this year, he decided he wanted to give something back and in some small way help others who are struggling with mental health issues. He decided to set himself a challenge: to write a poem a day for a year and to raise money for Mental Health Ireland. He says that MHI is an all-inclusive charity and this is why he chose it. But the task hasn’t been easy as he wanted to write in real time about his own mental health. Dennis admits that he always struggled to talk about himself and poetry was a release for him, but going public was another challenge. He spoke about how hard it was for him
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to send on his poems as he released them into the world, and he still struggles with sharing his deeper feelings in such a public way. However, he is determined to make this experience as real as it can be and reminds himself of the bigger picture. He believes he is growing from the challenge and hopes that others will get strength from this, too. Dennis encourages anyone to give it a go. He says it is not about the quality of the poetry but about what it means to you and what you can explore in your writing. Sharing is not essential but he believes that he has benefited even more from the feedback he has received and from rising to the challenge of releasing his poems into the world. If you would like to read Dennis’ poems you can find them on: https://apoemadaybydennis. wordpress.com/ And if you would like to support Denis in reaching his target for raising funds for MHI log into: https://give.everydayhero.com /ie/a-poem-a-day
MHI is a national voluntary organisation whose aim is to promote positive mental health and wellbeing. It provides supports and resources for those struggling with mental health issues and also aims to create awareness within the community of mental health and wellbeing. Learn more about the organisation at: http://www.mentalhealthirela nd.ie
A VISIT TO ACTION WEEK 2017 Part I - Geraldine Campbell Mentor Supervisors. My very first taste of Action Week was in 2005. I was a raw and inexperienced recruit into the fascinating world that is poetry/ bibliotherapy, but from that moment I was smitten, hooked, and captivated. Since then I attended a number of Action Week’s in New York and I would like to share with you some of my experiences of the most recent. Above: Ger experiencing angle harp played on her spine by Nessa McCasey
How can I describe the wonderful event that is Action Week? Indeed, how do I share the intensity and the depth and heights of self-exploration that can be reached by participants and facilitators alike? For me, Action Week in Manhattan is like a magical journey, a total immersion in creativity where participants can write, share, play, dance even sing, if you so wish. However and whatever way you participate in workshops, it is above all about community and connectivity. From an historical perspective Action Week was the brainchild of Lila Weisberger founder of BridgeXngs Poetry Centre in 1999, as an intentional poetry therapy community. Lila then went on to found the International Academy of Poetry Therapy an organisation that provides both training and credentialling as Poetry Therapy Practitioners and
The overall theme of Action Week 2017 was ‘I am not a piano key: I have an inner compass.’ A review of four of the many interesting workshops now follows: ‘Mercies of Resilience’ Lila Weisberger Lila provided us with a large collection of poems and prose all relevant to the theme of resilience. We were asked to think about ‘a time in your life when you were there for yourself, you were resilient, you didn’t break.’ The writing that resulted from this prompt covered so many topics but, as each participant shared their own unique writing, I heard a very important message which was the high level of resilience of human beings. ‘Harmonizing with discord: Which Keys work for you?’ Nessa McCasey. In this workshop we explored the concept of consonance and dissonance. In keeping with the overall musical theme, Nessa explained that
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consonance is associated with sweetness or pleasantness and dissonance with harshness or unacceptability. The concept of consonance and dissonance was used as a means of exploring ways in which disharmony can lead to resolution. The poem ‘Counting Beads’ by Jasmina Mendez provided a basis for discussion on social and cultural issues. As I listened and heard the writing that people shared I was struck by a number of recurring themes such as the mirroring of issues at micro level within communities to broader issues at macro level in terms of continuous conflict at global level. Part of the workshop also included having an angel harp played against your spine. This was a completely new experience for me as I felt the music reverberating throughout my body. This soothing sensation remained with me for quite a while and I felt very relaxed afterwards. ‘Wolf Notes: From Dissonance to Discovery’ Jill Teague The workshop opened to the sound of wolves howling. I found this to be a most poignant yet primal sound that touched me deep in my core. We explored the concept of endeavouring to keep a balance between the curiosity of exploring and the safety of the known. The use of Ekphrasis* allowed us to write * Description of a piece of art.
both ekphrastic poetry and prose that brought the group to so many different places. I have decided to include a piece of my own writing during the workshop to give a sense of some of my thoughts and feelings.
Book Review A True Note on a Slack String Reamonn O’Donnchadha
The Howl Have you heard the howl that sears the heart as tiny coffins are lowered to earth. Can you see the howl that sears the soul as the pod cry for the injured dolphin.
Reviewer: Theresa Kelly
Will you hold the howl
This book combines the psychology of C.G. Jung and the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh. The author writes about the similarities of Kavanagh’s poetry and the psychotherapeutic process. He explores how through the writing of poetry the psyche can be restored and can provide an opportunity for individual change similar to how the psychotherapeutic process works.
of Mother Earth as she is stripped bare and mutilated.
‘Remembrances’ Lila Weisberger and Nessa McCasey This was our last session and it was both joyful and sad. Lila presented us all with a copy of her husband’s last book. Gene Weisberger sadly is no longer with us and in previous years Gene would always attend the finale of the week. I believe this session impacted upon us all in many ways. However, on a brighter note we intend doing it all over again next year. Part II will appear in our Spring issue IPTN Membership Annual membership of €15 is now due. Members are entitled to a reduction of €10 on Conference fee and €5 on one IPTN workshop. Cheque or P/O to Bernie Walsh, 60 Hazlewood, Gorey, Co. Wexford
O’Donnchadha provides the reader with an overview of the psychology of C.G. Jung and interweaves with this examples of how Jung’s key concepts are expressed through the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh. For example the author writes about balance and the importance of balance in a relationship. If one gives too much or too little in a relationship it may indicate that the relationship is one-sided, where one person loves too much and is in constant fear of
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losing the other. This, he sees in Kavanagh’s poem ‘Raglan Road’ which tells the story of a fused relationship and highlights the themes of love and loss. In this poem he comments that all of the libido is flowing in one direction. The poet expresses a sense of isolation and idolization of the ‘other’ leading to the ‘poor me’ complex and to repressed anger because he is not getting what he wants. Another theme that the author deals with is that of the sense of self. He discusses the concept of the shadow and of how we all have good and evil in us. Once we accept that we each have a shadow we can stop railing against it and move to a position of acceptance thus leading to psychological growth. He believes that what Kavanagh brings to his poetry is often what clients bring to the therapeutic session – a sense of stuckness and the struggle to free themselves from their personal shadow. This struggle represents his search for meaning and for personal growth. Other themes that O’Donnchadha looks at are those of masculinity and at how the poet in his poetry began to associate with the persona of his farmer man in the same way that people can become identified with their professional persona and thus lose touch with reality. He looks at the negative father complex, the anima and the animus, both Jungian terms for the male in the female and the female in the male.
Poetry and the Third Eye Linking this into the therapeutic process, O’Donnchadha describes the importance of the therapist in accompanying the client on their journey like the man after the harrow. To help the client negotiate the tufts of grass thrown up by the horses hooves which represent crises in the client’s life. Being a lover of Kavanagh’s writings and a practitioner of Jungian analytical psychology, I enjoyed this book immensely and O’Donnchadha put into words for me what is so insightful about the oeuvre of both of these artists. This is not a therapeutic book or an academic one but it does show how their work can bring about change not only through the formal process of psychotherapy but also through the thought provoking impact of poetry. I would highly recommend this book to both the professional therapist and the lover of poetry.
Notes: iaPOETRY has launched an impressive and informative website. Check it out at https://iapoetry.org
Breathing Space – Writing for Wellbeing Conference. Out of the Blue and iaPOETRY are running weekend workshops in Snowdonia, Nth Wales from 3rd to 5th Nov. Check it out at http://breathspaceconference. blogspot.co.uk
IPTN 6th Annual Conference 2017 We are pleased to announce IPTN’s annual conference ‘17 will be held in the charming Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan. Our programme this year will include:
Illuminated Questions
Through Glass
The power of our writing is often the unbidden mind in our phrasing. The questions arising from it. This workshop is a gentle inquiry into our first and foremost responses to prompts. From it we will look at ourselves and our words in a way that may illuminate the more we do not often have time or opportunity to see.
the
Looking-
Carol Boland PTP Alice is playing with her kittens in front of a large mirror. ‘How would you like to live in a Looking-glass House, Kitty?’ she asks. Before you know it, she is up on the mantelpiece. ‘Let's pretend the glass has got all soft like gauze, so that we can get through.’ (Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll) Using poems as a portal and with mirror as metaphor, Carol Boland facilitates a selfdiscovery through poetry session on what we might find were we to enter Alice’s Wonderland.
Suzanne Power PTP ‘The questions which one asks oneself begin then to illuminate the world.’ James Baldwin
This workshop is designed to employ a spontaneous approach to creativity and offer a torch to shed light on what might lie within this. Ger Campbell will present the afternoon session which promises to be a lively affair! We look forward to seeing you there.
Poetry and the Third Eye Where: Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin When: Sun 8th October ‘17 Time: 9.15am – 4pm Cost: €80/€70 IPTN Members. Includes light lunch Booking is essential. To reserve your place please email us at: irishpoetrytherapynetwork@gmail.com or call 085 1138367 Please note that due to the personal nature of our workshops participant numbers are strictly 8 limited.