This online course offers a structured exploration of therapeutic poetry through creative practice, psychological insight, and guided reflection. Designed for beginners and experienced writers alike, it introduces poetry not as performance, but as a language for self-understanding, emotional processing, and creative wellbeing.
Across five weeks, you’ll explore imagery, metaphor, body awareness, identity, and personal narrative through guided writing invitations and live group sessions. The course combines experiential exercises with evidence-based readings drawn from research in expressive writing, narrative psychology, and therapeutic arts, helping you understand both the practice and the science behind it.
Like many writing-for-wellbeing programmes, the approach is intentionally supportive and accessible, focusing on expression rather than literary skill, because writing for wellbeing is fundamentally about “explor[ing] thoughts, express[ing] emotions, and support[ing] personal growth.”
What You’ll Experience
Each week includes:
- short recorded teaching + readings
- guided poetry prompts and reflective practices
- optional asynchronous sharing space
- live facilitated 90 minutes session
Sessions are spacious, collaborative, and shaped around curiosity, self-exploration, and creative discovery. Writing exercises draw on imagery, sensation, memory, and metaphor to help you access insight that analytical thinking alone often cannot.
What We’ll Explore
Themes include:
- identity and language
- body awareness and somatic imagery
- inner child and early narratives
- belonging and boundaries
- future self and integration
You’ll experiment with forms such as list poems, dialogue poems, sensory writing, autobiographical poetry, and symbolic rewriting practices.
The course is informed by evidence-based and interdisciplinary approaches, drawing inspiration from the work of leading figures in expressive and narrative psychology and poetry therapy, including Nicholas Mazza, James Pennebaker, Dan McAdams, and Geri Chavis. Their research and clinical frameworks demonstrate how language, storytelling, and metaphor can reshape emotional experience, identity, and wellbeing.
Who this is for
This course is open to anyone who:
- wants to explore writing and reading poetry as a reflective or healing practice
- feels curious about poetry but unsure where to begin
- loves language and wants to deepen its personal meaning
- seeks creative tools for emotional well-being
No previous writing experience is needed.
What you'll gain
By the end of the programme, participants typically:
- understand how poetry functions therapeutically
- feel more confident writing creatively
- recognise their personal imagery and metaphors
- develop a sustainable reflective writing practice
- experience deeper self-connection and emotional clarity
Format
- 5 weeks (9 May to 6 June)
- Online calls on Saturdays at 4pm to 5:30pm (GMT)
- Combination of self-paced materials + live sessions
- Small-group, supportive environment
Program
- Week 1 — Foundations of Poetry Therapy
- Week 2 — Identity, Language & Meaning Construction
- Week 3 — Body Memory, Emotion & Somatic Writing
- Week 4 — Inner Child, Memory & Re-Authoring Narratives
- Week 5 — Belonging, Future Self & Integration
+ A list of recommended readings for each theme
There are limited concession rate spots available. 102€ (Email me at [email protected] to register).
Facilitator
Hi, I’m María. I’m a transdisciplinary therapeutic writing facilitator and certified Poetry Therapy Practitioner (PTP) with the International Association of Poetry Therapy.
I train teachers across several Spanish universities in trauma-informed approaches to language, expression, and wellbeing, and I facilitate therapeutic writing workshops both online and in person, as well as individual sessions. My work combines poetry therapy, journaling, narrative practices, and reflective dialogue to support people navigating identity, transition, emotional challenges, or a desire for deeper self-understanding.
Alongside my practice, I serve as a Board Member and Council Program & Practice Coordinator of the International Association of Poetry Therapy, a Board Member of the Irish Poetry Therapy Network, and a co-founder of Lexquimia, a Spanish poetry therapy association operating online and across Spain. These roles allow me to support ethical practice, professional training, and the international growth of poetry therapy.
