Poetic Record: Resilience Workshop for Healthcare Workers
Join our community of healthcare workers, where writing offers connection, expression & relief from holding it all together.
Location
Online
About this event
FREE ONLINE workshop blending poetry, community, + the science of resilience. The class will meet for one hour on Tuesdays at 7 pm EST via zoom. We understand that not every participant will be able to attend every week. New to CBAW programs? Check out our quick Zoom guide at https://bit.ly/CBAWZoomGuide or watch this quick video to get an idea of what to expect.
Laura Van Prooyen, author, educator, and publisher, leads Poetic Record: Resilience Workshop for Healthcare Workers. Each week, Laura selects a poem and together participants read, respond, write, and can choose to share.
Countless studies and decades of research reveal the link between expressive writing and health. Writing provides a private space for individuals to reinforce positive experiences, display gratitude, and explore and articulate painful truths. During this pandemic, health care workers face not only the very real danger of COVID-19 but also increased risk of primary and secondary trauma, moral injury, compassion fatigue, and burnout.
No creative writing experience required
Past Participants Say:
“The writing allowed me to be vulnerable with myself and then I could be vulnerable with my family.”
“It was an exercise in capturing the thoughts and feelings swirling around inside, and then learning to be vulnerable and share.”
“I see this as a valuable middle ground between isolation and community reintegration.”
“It gave me a reason not to die from one day to the next.”
“Healing through writing… when you dig in and you are honest with yourself.”
“By being creative you are able to reach into a person’s heart, give them confidence and pull out a person changed for the better.”
Drawing upon a decade of teaching poetry to address post-traumatic stress, moral injury, and grief, CBAW has teamed up with Never Broken, an organization started by award-winning singer, songwriter and advocate Jewel, for Poetic Record, a collaborative project.
Over the past decade, CBAW’s workshops have reached thousands of service members, veterans, and military and civilian healthcare workers struggling with the social isolation and loss of connection that often accompanies moral injury and post-traumatic stress.creates virtual spaces that allow for first responders and medical workers to slow the mind, reflect on unthinkable circumstances, and use ordinary language in extraordinary ways.
Chief among the challenges presented by workplace mental health initiatives is the fear of negative professional consequences. Poetic Record circumvents that through online interfaces where healthcare workers are guided (with the option of anonymity) to share their accounts through poetry. Affirming responses from poets and one another provide the benefits of writing, disclosure, and social connection with minimal risk with the hopes of encouraging individuals to seek additional care if needed.
Community Building Art Works is a non-profit organization that provides poetry and art workshops led by professional artists. Its workshops have reached thousands of service members, veterans, and military and civilian healthcare workers at facilities including MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and George Washington University’s School of Nursing. Through online and in-person workshops, CBAW has taught expressive writing, mindfulness, and communication to participants struggling with the social isolation and loss of connection that often accompanies moral injury and post-traumatic stress.
About the facilitator: Laura Van Prooyen is author of three collections of poetry: Frances of the Wider Field (Lily Poetry Review Books) Our House Was on Fire (Ashland Poetry Press) nominated by Philip Levine and winner of the McGovern Prize and Inkblot and Altar (Pecan Grove Press). She is also co-author with Gretchen Bernabei of Text Structures from Poetry, a book of writing lessons for educators of grades 4-12 (Corwin Literacy). Van Prooyen is the Managing Editor for The Cortland Review, and she teaches in the low-residency MFA Creative Writing program at Miami University. She lives in San Antonio, TX. www.lauravanprooyen.com
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Community Building Art Works is a charitable organization that builds healthy and connected communities where veterans and civilians share creative expression, mutual understanding, and support. Our combination of arts programs for veterans and community-building events and services has reached thousands of service members, veterans, and military family members around the world.