Poetry as Therapy

In this post, I will share with you how I use poetry as a therapeutic tool in my work with clients at Homewood Ravensview, located in North Saanich, BC on Mount Newton in John Dean Provincial Park. This sacred area is also known as ȽÁU,WELNEW (“place of refuge”) in the SENĆOŦEN language, and is important in the history and culture of the WSANEC First Nations. It has had a history of safety and healing for thousands of years.

The clients I support at Ravensview come from all over Canada including far northern regions like the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. At Ravensview, we have three distinct client groups that receive tailored programming including My Path for young adults 19 to 25, Cornerstone for adults 26 and older from diverse backgrounds and occupations, and Guardians for First Responders, Military, and Veterans.

I work as part of an interdisciplinary team that values the expressive therapies (art, music, recreation, horticultural, and cultural programming) as part of a holistic approach to recovery and ongoing well-being. A typical day of programming for clients includes a combination of

• structured core groups (psychoeducation lectures, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, United Protocol, and open process groups),
• expressive therapies,
• and leisure opportunities (access to a gym and yoga studio, walking and hiking trails, pickleball and basketball courts).

I apply an intermodal approach to my own programming drawing upon a variety of the arts like weaving, craft making, music, creative writing, movement, and horticulture together. Interwoven they foster human growth, development, and healing.

Though I am in my fourth year working at Ravensview, I am continually adjusting my programming so it best meets the needs of our clients, and supports our interdisciplinary approach. My work responsibilities include overseeing the care of five different outdoor garden spaces, and indoor plants throughout the facility. Whenever possible during one-to-one horticultural therapy sessions, I have the client actively involved helping me with the care of the gardens and cultivation of plants. In addition to my one-to-one horticultural therapy sessions, I facilitate a variety of nature-themed expressive arts sessions for groups including botanical weaving, book making, and creative writing.

An area of both personal and professional interest for me is trauma recovery. I am strongly influenced by Judith Lewis Herman, an American psychiatrist, researcher, teacher, and author (Trauma and Recovery, 1992) who has focused her own career on the understanding and treatment of traumatic stress. When I’m designing individual sessions for my programming, a key requirement is having them align with Herman’s Tri-Phasic Model that engages the user in a 3-step fluid and dynamic trauma therapy approach as follows:

1. Safety and Stabilization (the key focus is finding calm)

2. Remembering and Mourning: (the key focus is working through trauma)

3. Connection and Reintegration: (the key focus is re-engaging in a meaningful life).

My undergrad university degree was in linguistics (the study of the human capacity to communicate and organize thought using language). Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I am so drawn to poetry. Poetry is one of the most ancient of all of the arts modalities. Put simply, a poem is a collection of carefully chosen words, condensed into lines and stanzas with focused attention to sound and rhythm. Written poetry can also have an important visual component. How the words are placed on a page (and the spaces around and between them) can convey meaning. A good example of this is a shape poem. Poetry began, as did all the arts, rooted in the senses – seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling, and touching. Nature is wild, our lives are wild, and poetry is wild. With nature-themed poetry we draw upon our experience of interrelatedness within the living world of plants, trees, animals, rocks, mountains, bodies of water, and each other.

“For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.”

― Mary Oliver

When facilitated sensitively, guiding clients to create poetry can provide a safe container for them to have the courage to tell their own stories of connectiveness with nature and each other. Creating poetry promotes awareness of the potential for imagination within each of us, and can be helpful in learning and the developing of personal, and interpersonal skills like creative thinking, concentration, open mindedness, mindfulness, self-confidence, and empathy. In this way, I believe the creative writing sessions I provide are opportunities for clients to practice the core skills of Dialectical Behavior Therapy they are learning (mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness).

“A poem is a frozen moment melted by each reader for themselves to flow into the here and now.” ― Hilde Domin

Resilience is the ability to get up on your feet, to confront and overcome challenge, and recover from the difficulty of taking on that process. I am drawn to the work of German poet and philosopher, Hilde Domin 1909 – 2006. Her writing has increased my appreciation and awareness for the potential of resilience within us all. A common theme in her writing is one of “nevertheless”; the idea that even though difficult things happen over the course of a lifetime; we are still able to survive. The “nevertheless” attitude calls for embracing an open-mindedness to see both sides. In other words, to look deeply for the positive in situations, ourselves, and the world around us. Domin’s poetry and writing leaves me with the understanding that despite the trauma, pain, and difficulties we encounter, life goes on.

“Writing poetry does not require a specific kind of place, or specific type of writing tool or surface. All that is required is a spontaneous urge for expression.” ― M.F. Knill and S. S. Atkins, 2020

The birth of a poem begins with the first words written on paper. Then, those first words inspire more words, leading towards a future poem that is unknown at the beginning. In this way, creating poetry calls for creating and embracing what is often strange and new. Creating poetry involves trusting in the process that a poem will unfold naturally, exposing us to uncertainty, decision making, and finally the feeling of achievement.

When I’m facilitating a creative writing activity like writing poetry, I adhere to a specific process. Tuning into the body first helps to clear the mind and prepare it for writing. For me, writing poetry always begins with awareness of the most basic of life forces, the breath, and then making a conscious and physical connection with the earth. By doing this, I am reminded I too am part of the natural world. Beginning a creative writing activity with a gentle stretch, connecting with a plant, or going for a walk outdoors in nature, not only can provide inspiration for writing to come, but can also promote a change of atmosphere, a slowing down and deeper awareness of the present moment for both my clients and myself.

Next, I share with clients a favorite poem of mine that relates to the writing theme for the day. A common go to for me is poetry by Mary Oliver 1935 – 2019. Her poems reflect a deep sense of respect and fascination for the natural environment. She often explores themes of interconnectedness, spirituality, and a relationship with nature. The poem of the day is printed on 3-hole punch paper so clients can easily add it to their binders after the session is over. I instruct clients to silently read the poem of the day to themselves first. Then I ask for volunteers to read it out loud to the rest of us so we can hear what it sounds like when spoken. I instruct listeners to close their eyes so their focus remains on the intonations and pace the speaker uses. I typically will ask for more than one volunteer to read the poem of the day out loud so listeners can experience the differences between their approaches. Only now are we ready to attempt writing ourselves. I select a writing activity simple to explain and that will ultimately set the client up to experience success. I love template poems. Template poems provide a basic structure, like a prompt based upon a specific theme or structure; or the writer finishes a line by filling in the blanks. Once everyone has been given enough time to complete their writing, we move on to performing them. I believe a poem is not completed until it is shared with others. At this point, time management is critical for the facilitator. Be sure to leave enough time for anyone who wants to share their poem to do so by reading it out loud to the rest of the group. At the same time, respect that a client may choose to pass on reading out loud their poem. Be prepared to move on without further question. Often, I will ask the client who has just read out loud their poem to repeat reading it out loud. During their second performance, there is an increased range of intonation and pacing. Over time I have come to learn that working with poetry involves considerable vulnerability for clients, so the skills and attitudes of the facilitator, such as sensitive listening, appreciative curiosity, and multileveled awareness, are very important aspects of creating a safe poetry experience for all. As facilitators, we must be especially sensitive to the power of words and to the differing cultural associations words can have.

Once a client has finished performing their poem, I do not provide any feedback about the quality of the poem, or give any suggestions how to improve it. I do allow an opportunity for listeners to respond in a nonverbal manner to indicate how a poem just performed has resonated with them. I have noticed listeners will indicate their appreciation for a poem by a simple nodding of their head, a change in the expression upon their face, or snapping their fingers.

To leave you with inspiration, below I have included four examples of template poems I use with clients in my creative writing sessions. Adapt as you see fit for your own client populations.

I hope with practice, you and your clients too will discover the therapeutic potential of reading, listening to, discussing, writing, and performing poetry.

1. Create an Acrostic

An acrostic is when the first letter in each line spells out another word when read top–down.

Example: WIND

Whistling

Inflows and outflows

Northerly – blowing north to south

Dispersing seeds for survival

© 2025 Cliff Thorbes, HTR

• Fill In the Blank Poem

Answer these questions quickly – don’t think too much about your responses. Then read them together as if they are a poem.

If I was a colour, I would be

If I was a time of day, I would be

If I was a type of weather, I would be

If I was a season, I would be

If I was a species of flower, I would be

If I was a species of tree, I would be

I was a type of bird, I would be

I was an type of insect, I would be

If I was a body part, I would be

If I was a sense, I would be

If I was a quote, I would be

• Create a Haiku

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry made of short, unrhymed lines that evoke natural imagery and an emotion for the reader/listener.

Example:

embers radiate warmth

by the fire

as thoughts come and go

© 2025 Cliff Thorbes, HTR

• Four Objects Poem (with a Tiny Twist)

Go outside for a walk, and create a list of four tiny objects that come from nature.

Once you have your list of objects, write a poem about them.

Here’s the twist: the poem must be tiny too, containing only four lines.

Resources:

Judith L. Herman, MD. “Trauma and Recovery.” The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books, 1992.

Margo F. Knill and Sally S. Atkins. “Poetry in Expressive Arts.” Supporting Resilience through Poetic Writing. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2021.