Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Wild Geese Mental Health Eugene, Oregon, United States
What does creative writing, and poetry in particular, offer clinicians who want to better understand and treat dissociative disorders? For clinicians who specialize in treating dissociation, developing a shared vocabulary and frame with dissociative clients is a key first step in establishing a therapeutic alliance. Many clients with dissociative experiences struggle to believe that their experiences can be heard and understood by another. This poster will explore how poetic concepts, approaches, and images can offer clinicians a basis for co-creating an imagistic and polyphonic map of the client's inner world. As a poet and psychiatric nurse practitioner who incorporates writing into my work with dissociative clients, I will offer examples of poems by clients and concrete strategies and approaches for incorporating creative writing into clinical work.
