Using Poetry to Promote Talking and Healing

Pooky Knightsmith, PhD, is a specialist in child and adolescent mental health and emotional wellbeing. Through her company, In Our Hands Ltd Pooky works with schools, parents and organisations to provide training on topics related to mental health awareness and support. She is Director of the Children, Young People and Schools Programme at the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, and mental health and emotional wellbeing advisor for the PSHE Association in the UK. Pooky is also a trustee for Beat, the eating disorder charity, and the Kidstime Foundation. Pooky has personal experiences of the issues she teaches and writes about and she also writes a poem a day on her poetry blog (pookypoetry.wordpress.com). She lives in Surrey, UK.

Foreword. Part 1. Using poetry as a way in: Ideas, strategies and techniques. I. Using poetry as a therapeutic tool. II. Poetry as a vehicle to discuss our feelings less directly. III. Poetry as a means for reflection. IV. Poetry as a means of exploring what we could do next. V. Poetry as a way to show someone how we're feeling. VI. Poetry as a reassurance that we are not alone in how we feel. VII. Writing poetry as part of recovery. Part 2. An anthology of discussion starting poems. I. Abuse and Bullying. Same Lyrics, Different Song. Cyberbullied. Iron Gaze. The End, Maybe. Abused. Frozen Out. Walking Away. Betrayed. II. Anxiety and Panic. Anxiety. Feelings of Anxiety. Panic Rising. Stage Fright. Panic Attack. Scared. Sleepless Nights. Ruled by Anxiety. III. Loss and Bereavemment. A New Hand to Hold. Before and After. Healing Hand. Leftover Love. Life Unbidden. But You Died. Nana's Wishes. Last Week's Flowers. Is It Better to have Loved and Lost. Scars. IV. Depression. the Tree Who Couldn't. The Shadow. Dark. Head Fight. Numb. Creeping Ivy. Rose Tinted. Matter over Mind. And So She Drank. Highs and Lows. Peaks and Ditches. Good Days, Bad Days. Don't Step into the Darkness. Outwardly Smiling. Other Worlds. The Same but Different. Always Falling. V. Eating Disorders and Body Image. Please Eat. A Father's View. Conversation with an Anorexic. Boy Anorexic. Recovery. FAT. Anorexia. Grandmaster or Life?. Hollows. The Girl and the Mirror. Scales. If You Could See What I See. Shopping for Magic. VI. Obsessions, Compulsions and Intrusive Thoughts. Intrusive Thoughts. The Voice of Hate. Recoevring Fate. Imaginary Friends. Invasive Thoughts. VII. Self-Harm. Fading Scars. Again. Conversation with a Self-Harmer. Finding Ways to Belong. Fresh Blood. VIII. Suicide. By His Own Hand. That Day. Beautiful Nature. Late. Do Not Fall. IX. Recovery. The Crest of a Wave. Kintsugi (Beauty in Broken). Marble in Jar. Thinking Forwards. X. Supporting and Listening. Helping Hand. Calmer Waters. A Disappointing Visit. Self-Esteem. Listening Ear. You Didn't Ask. How Are You?. Cuddles: The Best Medicine. It's Not Easy Being Friends Sometimes. Depression. Help Me to be a Better Friend. Trying to Help. Kind Words are Not Always Heard. Hidden Scars. Healing Hold. Part 3. Encouraging and Enablling Therapeutic Poetry Writing. I've never written a poem before. I'd rather write prose. I don't know anything about poetry.What I write will be rubbish. I don't know what to write. I don't have time. I'm too embarrassed to show anyone. Enjoy the process!. I. Poetic Forms. Form 1: Haiku. Form 2: Sonnet. Form 3: Acrostic. Form 4: Golden Shovel. Form 5: Terza Rima. Form 6: Rubáiyát. Form 7: Anaphora. Form 8: Pyramid. II. Poetry Prompts. Prompt 1: Dear me...Prompt 2: Something that scares you. Prompt 3: Confusing figure of speech. Prompt 4: A Haiku from your window. Prompt 5 - The last line changes everything. Prompt 6 - An unlikely thank you. Prompt 7 - An antidote to nightmares. Prompt 8 - First phrase, last phrase. Prompt 9 - Open with a question. Prompt 10 - The street where you grew up. Prompt 11 - Light and dark. Prompt 12 - No punctuation. Prompt 13 - Describe a smell. Prompt 14 - The meaning of life. Prompt 15 - School days. Prompt 16 - A set of instructions. Prompt 17 - Admiration acrostic. Prompt 18 - Rhyme and reason. Prompt 19 - How we met. Prompt 20 - Strip tease. Prompt 21 - Love is...Prompt - 22 - One word title. Prompt 23 - Fragile friendships. Prompt 24 - Extended metaphor. Prompt 25 - Your 100th birthday. Prompt 26 - Time difference. Prompt 27 - Screensaver. Prompt 28 - Apology. Prompt 29 - Simple pleasures. Prompt 30 - Twelve lines long. Prompt 31 - Doors. Prompt 32 - Favorite color. Prompt 33 - Good news. Prompt 34 - Life lesson. Prompt 35 - New beginning. Prompt 36 - Reprimand. Prompt 37 - Pyramid. Prompt 38 - Forwards backwards. Prompt 39 - Climbing. Prompt 40 - Heirloom. Prompt 41 - The wrong response. Prompt 42 - Loss of sense. Prompt 43 - Stigma. Prompt 44 - Harm and Hope. Prompt 45 - Controversial. Prompt 46 - Happy sad. Prompt 47 - Unlikely Haiku. Prompt 48 - Twenty nine. Prompt 49 - Holding hands. Prompt 50 - Random word.Final Thoughts from Pooky.