I am a creative arts therapist and clinical social worker whose work as a poetry therapy trainer began in the late 70’s. As a grad student at NYU in the early 1970s, my mentor in the University Without Walls (Nellie McCaslin) encouraged me to visit every person who was conducting poetry therapy. This is how I met Jack Leedy in his office on 11th Street in the Village. He treated ex-convicts in a most unconventional manner. I remember an unkempt and surly client demanding his methadone, and Jack reminding him, “Only after you give me a poem.” Dr. Leedy believed that since the modus operandi of the addict is taking, and instead the addict needs to learn to give. In 1978-1982, I had the great pleasure of co-teaching the course Poetry Therapy: Toward Self Knowledge at The New School for Social Research. I have continued to teach poetry therapy at Hofstra University in Long Island as well as privately. My time is divided between teaching at Touro College, a private practice, working as a poetry therapy trainer, and writing.

I was once dubbed "the youngest poetry therapy pioneer" – most certainly a falsehood - because all of us who enter this field are pioneers. Nevertheless, I may have been one of the last people to be granted a certificate in poetry therapy before the creation of stronger standards.  When I first entered the field, no formal training programs existed. There was not yet such a creature as a “registered poetry therapist” or a “mentor-supervisor.” I have worked for the past 30 years to establish standards and create training opportunities.

A staunch believer in the creative arts for well-being, I served on the steering committee for both NAPT and NADT and am past president of both NAPT (1993-1995) and the National Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy(1993-2005). In 1984, I received the Outstanding Achievement Award for my pioneering work in establishing NAPT as a democratic organization and creating professional standards in the field. I received the 2002 NAPT Distinguished Service Award and 2005 Art Lerner Pioneer Award for  visionary work in poetry therapy. In 2007, I was recipient of the Morris Morrison Education Award for excellence in teaching and bringing poetry to marginalized populations. With my talented and amazing trainees, I currently facilitate a long distance writing program called Poetry Behind Bars for inmates of the Indiana State Maximum Security Prison.

I earned my doctorate in social work with a specialty in poetry therapy from Union Institute in 2000. I honed my skills as a lecturer and workshop leader during the twenty years I served consultant to the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services. I developed my skills as a therapist during a period of ten years when I worked for Kingsboro Psychiatric Hospital. My articles may be viewed at www.thecreativerightingcenter.org and there are two buns -- I mean books--in the oven.

MY PHILOSOPHY OF TRAINING

My work in poetry therapy emanates from a special place in my heart – The Creative "Righting"Center.  Creative “Righting”is not just a catchy phrase. It suggests balancing or centering oneself. Many people lose their balance when overwhelmed with fear, pain, sorrow, anger, even joy! Writing, storytelling, and poetry-making can be a way of straightening out emotional knots, a way of achieving balance in our lives so that a sense of well-being emerges. Creative "righting" may be expressive or prescriptive. When we write, we express ourselves. When we read, we benefit from poetic medicine. We are in touch with Rumi, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and some of the greatest souls who have ever lived. We can benefit from their wisdom and strength.

Within each of us there exists a "self-righting" mechanism. Just as surely as a plant will turn towards the light, our creative imagination helps us to recreate ourselves. The tree of Life is the time-honored symbol for The Creative "Righting" Center. Its roots anchor the tree to its home and access nutrients, its spine sustains us, its branches reach out in a supportive network, and its leaves are the creative blossoms of our lives.

Training is an art in which practical discipline mates with passion for beauty and a strong drive to help others. Together, we design a program of training to fulfill your needs with populations of your choosing. There is no one correct way to do poetry therapy. I will, however, share some tried and true methods, and you will develop your own individual style. Becoming a poetry therapist is a calling. It is my greatest pleasure to mentor trainees who passionately choose to follow this call, and in the words of of Dawna Marekova,

                  to live so that which comes to us as seed

                  goes to the next as blossom

                  and that which comes to us as blossom

                  goes on as fruit.