The CavanKerry Poetry Heals program is a series of cathartic workshops designed for physicians and clinicians in hospitals and students in medical schools. In a supportive peer setting, it uses the power of poetry to help participants identify, articulate, and heal from the burdens and stress of their work as caregivers.

The pandemic has caused everyone to examine more closely their lives and purpose. Given the onslaught of needs, many healthcare practitioners have not been able to stop long enough to process their experiences. While they may have their own personal coping mechanisms, this program offers a safe space for them to process their experience collectively among their peers. Examining poetry is a unique, more intuitive process that enables participants to pause and be attentive to often confusing, difficult, or complicated emotions. 

Poetry Heals exemplifies the mission of CavanKerry Press. We publish works that “explore the emotional/psychological landscapes of everyday life” and “deliver them to people where they live, work, and receive services.” In Poetry Heals workshops, our authors use LaurelBooks to help participants express themselves and heal in a way only possible through art. The program helps facilitate deeper reflection around self-care and humanism in healthcare.

The preliminary goal is to support and nurture medical students and professionals. By engaging participants with our authors of LaurelBooks (poetry and memoir), we give them an opportunity to reflect, respond, and find meaning in their own and each other’s experiences. In the small group setting, participants are given time, guidance, and support to explore the enormity of issues and emotions they face. They are offered the same empathy they find in the given texts and apply it to their own lives and the lives of their peers. It is an honest process that fosters personal healing while strengthening their role as healers themselves. 

As participants benefit personally, they also gain greater awareness of their patients’ situations. This leads to the second goal of the project, to increase observation, listening, and communication skills—the very skills that improve healthcare and patient outcomes. Participants become more sensitized to the impacts of illness and the human being behind the disease. This can reduce bias and judgement, and lead to more respectful, equitable care.