Poetry as research: Advancing scholarship and the development of poetry therapy as a profession

Abstract

To be effective and to achieve legitimization, each profession must develop its own body of knowledge. Within a social context characterized by the increasing influence of for-profit managed care corporations and the expanded influenced of the medical model, many helping professions have turned to logical positivism as a model for knowledge acquisition. Yet, the methods associated with this epistemological position may not be consonant with the values and knowledge needs of poetry therapy as a profession. Fortunately, advances in expressive arts research has lead to the development of methods congruent with the aims and needs of the burgeoning profession. The research poem is examined as one potential vehicle through which to improve the research agenda of poetry therapy.

Keywords:

• Poetry
• poetry therapy
• profession
• qualitative
• research