Poetry, Therapy and Emotional Life explores the thoughts of poets, therapists and counsellors in relation to the human condition with a practical component on how poetry can be used in therapeutic work. Concentrating on the theories of Freud, Jung, Rogers, Berne, Perls and Ellis, the book examines topics such as human motivation, experience and neurosis. It encourages readers to take a fresh and enthusiastic approach to their work as counsellors, therapists or writers, and appeals to anyone with a love of poetry or writing as a means of self expression. The text contains a wealth of poetic examples both traditional and modern, along with samples from clients in creative writing groups, schools and healthcare settings. Psychological therapists and counsellors, health and social care workers, and writers alike will find this very accessible book invaluable.

Surveys the nine medical licenses as well as fifty nondegree healing modalities--including history, philosophy, basic techniques, and methods--and provides information on career and training opportunities.

Practitioner Research in Voice Studies aims to support the artist-scholar who wishes to design and publish research in voice. The book is useful for the novice, who wants tangible tools to begin, and for the more experienced researcher, who wants varying perspectives on how voice scholarship has evolved. The book contains three sections: • Conducting Practitioner Research in Voice Studies • Getting Started • Practitioner Research Examples. The first two sections outline major themes, debates, and research approaches in the field, and many chapters offer step-by-step guides and tips. The final section presents example research articles that highlight numerous methods including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method, action research, performance as research, practice as research, literature review, narrative review, and other kinds of multidisciplinary practices. This ambitious project includes leading international figures who write in a scholarly and accessible manner. Utilizing research ideas and examples from a variety of voice disciplines, this book will be of interest to those studying voice, speech, singing, acting, public speaking, voice science, communication, music, theatre, and performance. Those writing a dissertation or thesis may also draw from this text. Articles from this book were originally published in the Voice and Speech Review journal.

Creative Methods are a shortcut to what we didn’t know we knew. In working from a student’s or client’s own imagination and psychological material, a person discovers who they are and what they need to expand and move forward. This enriching and inspiring book on creative methods demonstrates the power and effectiveness of the creative approach in guidance and counselling settings. The twenty chapters in this volume focus on the importance and joys of play, creative expression, and imagination in effective learning: as we develop, observe, and interact with our own creations we can arrive at fresh insights by tapping into the wisdom of the unconscious mind. Creative methods often provide a new perspective on difficult emotions and allow us to perceive what they’re trying to tell us. Chapter topics include the following: Embodied Theatre Ecology; the Use of Poetry with Clients Recovering from Anorexia; Retirement Life Writing; the Value of Metaphors in Grieving; the Construction of New Narrative Identities in Careers; Dance Movement Psychotherapy as an Approach to Depression; Psychodrama and Philosophy in Learning Self-care by Encountering the “Unknown Other”; Artistic Tools for Psychotherapeutic Work with Children and Youth; Temporal Chair Work; Identity Learning through Paintings; and the ways in which Poetry can Help us Bridge Cultural Divides and Inform Career Learning Practices. This volume will be of value and interest to students, researchers, teachers, professionals, and practitioners of psychology, behavioural sciences, mental health, counselling, and education. The chapters in this book were originally published as special issues in the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling.

Updated to provide a modern look at the daily stessors evolving in our ever changing society, Managing Stress: Skills for Self-Care, Personal Resiliency and Work-Life Balance in a Rapidly Changing World, Tenth Edition provides a comprehensive approach to stress management, honoring the balance and harmony of the mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Referred to as the “authority on stress management” by students and professionals, this book equips readers with the tools needed to identify and manage stress while also coaching on how to strive for health and balance in these changing times. The holistic approach taken by internationally acclaimed lecturer and author Brian Luke Seaward gently guides the reader to greater levels of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being by emphasizing the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection.

Writing in Bereavement is a practical creative handbook that will assist counsellors, volunteers and others in their work with bereaved adults. Writing is a powerful outlet for the emotions that accompany grief and it is therefore a valuable therapeutic tool to help those who are bereaved communicate their experiences and adjust to life after their loss. Jane Moss provides imaginative creative writing exercises for groups and individuals, using a variety of genres and literary forms and techniques. She offers advice on how to plan and run successful workshops with the bereaved, and how to evaluate their effectiveness. Using the techniques in this book, counsellors can help grieving individuals find a voice to cope with profound changes in their life, complete unfinished conversations, write for remembrance, use creativity as a respite from sadness, and finally begin to move forward from grief and imagine the future.

This groundbreaking study offers an innovative critical analysis of poetry as a resource for reflective practice in the context of continuing professional development. In the contemporary drive in all professions for greater rigour in education, training, and development, little attention is paid to the inner shape of learning and meaning-making for individuals and groups, especially ways in which individuals are formed for the task of their work. Building on empirical research into the author’s professional practice, the book takes the use of poetry in clergy continuing ministerial development as a case-study to examine the value of poetry in professional learning. Setting out the advantages and limitations of poetry as a stimulant for imaginative, critical reflexivity, and formation within professional reflective practice, the study develops a practical model for group reflection around poetry, distilling pedagogical approaches for working effectively with poetry in continuing professional development. Drawing together a number of strands of thinking about poetry, Practical Theology, and reflective practice into a tightly argued study, the book is an important methodological resource. It makes available a range of primary and secondary sources, offering researchers into professional practice a model of ethnographic research in Practical Theology which embraces innovative methods for reflexivity and theological reflection, including the value of auto-ethnographic poetry.