Biblio/Poetry Therapy for Shaping Narrative Identity and Social Resilience
This online webinar explores research and practice in biblio/poetry therapy, from philosophical approaches to flourishing and social resilience to narrative-based work with cancer patients and healthcare professionals. Presenters will examine how reading, writing, and storytelling can support agency, connection, and meaning-making.
The webinar will combine biblio/poetry therapy and narrative therapy research from two groups: The Italian-Finnish group, "Philosophical Biblio/Poetry Therapy for Flourishing and Social Resilience," will present twice, and the Finnish "Counter-Narratives of Cancer" group will present four times.
The first part will explore philosophical biblio/poetry therapy, which aims to promote individual and collective flourishing (eudaimonia) and agency. Drawing from ancient and modern philosophical traditions, the presenters will discuss reading and writing as "technologies of the self" designed to transform the individual, as well as a means to ethically deliberated social and societal engagement. To illustrate the diversity of the field of philosophical biblio/poetry therapy, the presenters will introduce two different approaches to the practice and two different methods used within those approaches.
The second part of the webinar will provide an overview of current biblio/poetry therapy research and practice in Finland, including projects with cancer patients and healthcare professionals. All projects have yielded positive research outcomes. Nevertheless, challenges remain in establishing biblio/poetry therapy as a well-recognized form of creative art therapy and psychosocial support. Additionally, further fundamental research is needed to better understand the core processes underlying biblio/poetry therapy. This webinar also offers advice on developing research and practice methods and shares examples of innovative applications.
Biblio/poetry therapy offers an opportunity to share experiences based on written and read narratives. These experiences foster a sense of community, provide peer support, and help individuals creatively construct new meanings in relation to their life challenges.
Attendee Learning Outcomes
Philosophical Foundations: To learn about the philosophical foundations of biblio/poetry therapy.
Clinical & Empirical Evidence: To learn about recent research results on the use of biblio/poetry therapy with groups for cancer patients and cancer care staff.
Actionable Implementation: To receive practical advice on implementing biblio/poetry therapy methods to build positive narrative identities and to advance social resilience.
Therapeutic Dynamics: To recognize the therapeutic effects of shared experiences and meanings through reading, writing, and storytelling.
Societal & Ethical Inquiry: To assess biblio/poetry therapy methods in the context of societal and ethical inquiry.
Target Audience
Creative Arts Therapists, bibliotherapists, poets, psychologists, counsellors, nurses and healthcare professionals, educators, arts and health practitioners, students, and anyone interested in narrative, bibliotherapy, and the health humanities.
