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Therapist hears healing voice in rhyme, rhythm

A certified poetry therapist will speak locally on the power this "useful language" has to restore the sick and the injured.

ST. PETERSBURG - John Fox describes therapeutic poetry as a concise form of journaling. It's also poetry that lets those who are ill and their caregivers express feelings such as loss, hopelessness and frustration, he said.

Fox, 50, a certified poetry therapist, will be in the Tampa Bay area this week to give an introduction to poetic medicine and conduct a daylong workshop on the subject.

His knowledge will come from experience. He was 18 when his right leg was amputated because of a bone and nerve disorder. Writing poetry helped him cope with the ordeal, he said.

"I feel that poetry is a practical, useful language when it comes to expressing feelings. It's a kind of shorthand that can go right to the heart. Elements of poetry such as rhythm and sound help that connection with one's deepest sense of truth," he said during a telephone interview this week.

Fox said academic training is not required to take advantage of this form of emotional healing. "It is something that can happen for a person who has never considered poetry, not since grade school," he said.

A poet and author, Fox was invited to the area by the creative expressions program in the pastoral care department at Bayfront Medical Center.

"We have volunteers that do art, music and poetry at the bedside of our patients, and this is good training for anyone who wants to do that. Or anyone who would like to learn about using poetry to help them make meaning out of their experiences or just help them find their creative voice," said Kathy Luethje, a Bayfront chaplain.

She said the 4-year-old creative expressions program sponsors a laughter club and a toning group that makes sounds as a form of meditation and sends out intentions of peace and healing for others.

Fox comes highly recommended, she said, adding that she learned that he had given a successful program at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. Luethje also read Fox's book, Poetic Medicine, which is a guide to writing poetry as a way to heal mind, body and spirit.

Fox is an adjunct associate professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and teaches in the graduate school of psychology at John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley. He also teaches at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto and works with children through the California Poets in the Schools program. He offers workshops throughout the United States and overseas in retreat centers, hospitals, churches and schools.

He said his workshops are meant to inspire poetry writing and provide practical tools to participants. "It's giving people permission that we can play and mess around with words," he said.

John Fox's introduction to poetic medicine will take place 7 p.m. Friday at Bayfront Medical Center's Sheen Conference Center. On Saturday, he will conduct a workshop on the "Healing Art of Poem-making" at Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa. Friday's session is $10. Saturday's workshop is $50. To register, call Kathy Luethje at 823-1234, ext. 33393.