Writing to Heal: The Arts as a Learning Methodology in Psychiatry

Abstract

This piece explores how poetry and prose can be used as an adjunct to medical education and patient care, especially in the field of psychiatry. It details the author’s personal experience with spoken word poetry as a medium of communication about their own story and how this may be harnessed to tell the stories of patients as well. The piece touches on how mental health can be explored through creative writing and how this may be a useful tool for working with patients.

Keywords:

• Poetry
• arts in medicine
• storytelling
• narrative medicine

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Dr. Margaret Chisolm for her guidance and support with this piece.

Informed consent

No human subjects were involved in the composition of this article. Any identifying information has been changed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)