Poetry helps to explore feelings and memories buried in the subconscious and identify how they may relate to currently life circumstances.  Some features of poetry that make it effective as therapy include:

Poems are succinct but choose to arrange words to capture a wealth of emotions.  This makes them especially powerful in conveying meaning.

Discipline of the poem structure externalises and contains emotion so that it can be discussed more objectively.. The structure and rhythm of the poem acts in a similar way to music to engage our minds and emotions in a way that goes beyond usual communication.

Images and metaphors enable articulation of thoughts and emotions that can be challenging to express in normal communication.

Poems give a direct insight into the author’s feelings and so allow a connection to be made.

Novels and short stories can be effective as therapy because they:

• Capture social and cultural context that people can relate to.
• Show characters working to resolve a problem or situation in their lives.
• Show characters achieving self-discovery, personal growth and change.
• Convey characters’ internal and external lives, communicating thoughts and emotions in a way that readers can relate to.
• Allow exploration of aspects of life that might otherwise be too frightening or overwhelming to discuss – e.g. through fantasy and supernatural novels.
• Offer escapism and a fresh perspective, to view situations and emotions from a safe distance.

Graphic novels can be good for people who:

• Have low literacy
• Have limited vocabularies – e.g. first language is not English or they have learning disabilities.
• Don’t enjoy/ aren’t used to reading, but engage with the graphic format.

They bring to life characters who are struggling in a way that many readers can relate to and identify with.

Biography and autobiography can be good choices for people who prefer reading fact rather than fiction.

Biographies can be therapeutic because they help people to connect with the real-life experiences and emotions of another individual. They give  a real-life perspective on:

• How even people who may appear successful or very different on the surface experience similar struggles and problems that the person themselves is undergoing.
• People encountering and dealing with challenges.
• Coming to terms with, surviving and living with difficult situations.
• Learning from mistakes as well as good choices.
• Dealing with success and failure.
• Experiencing personal growth and development.
• Finding personal meaning through our lives and experiences.

Sometimes non-fiction books that explore  personal, mental and emotional issues in more depth from a scientific and self-help perspective can be a useful follow-up to the insights gained through words for wellbeing sessions. 

For example, someone who has found Denise Levertov’s poem Talking to Grief helpful in accepting as part of their life that the parent they once knew seems lost to them through advanced Alzheimer’s, may find it helpful to go on and read a book such as Pauline Boss’s Ambiguous Loss about dealing with unresolved grief.

See the Reading Lists section below which provides reading lists to support a wide range of issues and different groups of people.

 Workbook Exercise

Workbook exercise (2)

You can assume that there will be two or three words for wellbeing sessions for each person.