Fluence

“And as imagination bodies forth the forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name.” Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5 Scene 1

This 12-week experiential and interactive course will focus on the intentional (and occasional spontaneous) use of poetry, symbolism, story, and creative writing as tools for psychedelic therapy and psychedelic integration. Participants will be introduced to the theoretical foundations and practice techniques of Poetry Therapy. Specific attention will be given to the use of the poetic (language, symbol and story) in individual, group and community practice. The course will follow an arc which includes the major pillars (body-mind-spirit-relationships and nature) and pitfalls (spiritual bypassing, shadow work, crisis of trust and of exclusion) which therapists and their clients may encounter during the integration process.

The Receptive, Expressive, and Symbolic (RES) model of Poetry Therapy by Nicholas Mazza will serve as a guide in addition to an inventory of poems and papers focused on the convergence of psychotherapy and poetry, symbolism, and meaning making in the psychotherapeutic process. In an age where therapists of all disciplines are encouraged to be “Scientist Practitioners,” this course calls us to be “Poet Practitioners” and in the words of Mazza, “… able to hear and engage the soul whispers of clients in non literal, metaphoric forms.” Contemporary psychedelic research and theory heralds a new horizon of inquiry bringing a new level of interest to the quest for healing that pushes the edges of current treatment thinking and practice. Poetry slips under the wire of conventional psychotherapy practice, putting the ineffable into words. This opens a vista of possibilities for deep learning for the therapist and the client. The convergence of clinical and literary perspectives are explored with suggested weekly readings. Special guests will be invited to some of the classes. All participants will be invited to write, to listen, and to explore moments of awe, inspiration and joy through their experience of poetry, symbol and story.

Why Poetry

“Poetry at its best calls forth our deep being. It dares us to break free from the safe strategies of the cautious mind; it calls to us, like the wild geese, as Mary Oliver would say, from an open sky. It is a magical art, and always has been—a making of language spells designed to open our eyes, open our doors and welcome us into a bigger world, one of possibilities we may never have dared to dream of…This is why poetry can be dangerous as well as necessary. Because we may never be the same again after reading a poem that happens to speak to our own life directly. I know that when I meet my own life in a great poem, I feel opened, clarified, confirmed somehow what I sensed was true but had no words for. Anything that can do this is surely necessary for the fullness of a human life….Artists and poets are the raw nerve ends of humanity. By themselves they can do little to save humanity. Without them there would be little worth saving.” (“Why poetry is necessary” by Roger Housdon) 

The participant becomes the clinician. All participants will be expected to lead guided practices, read poems aloud and work together in small groups. Learn. Practice. Lead. In addition to reading and discussion, participants will be encouraged and compassionately supported to use their direct experience and inspiration from class. Students will be encouraged to apply the classroom learning with either a small group or individual client outside of the classroom. Presentations, discussion and learning are core aspects of the program. There are a fair amount of home assignments to enrich the learning experience. Participants will learn and practice the Fluence safe and compassionate feedback model (FFM) to celebrate risk, vulnerability and the beginner’s mind. Advancing the interface between the sciences and the humanities is a dance of joy!