This is a book of different stories with a similar
theme. It involves a number of healthcare settings and
how writing can be palliative in each. The settings
range from hospice to dementias and people of all ages
in distress. Some of them are even in the recovery
stage.

Each chapter is written by a different author from
different places and persuasions. Although the
settings include nursing homes, hospices, etc., the
common theme is how literature is helpful even for the
dying, For instance, in a Swedish hospice, poetry is
read to the dying, and they felt much better although
they couldn’t read it themselves, their families and
those who are dying obviously enjoyed the readings. It
gave them some sense of peace. What happened is that
the living read the requested poem to the dying, at
their bequest. The poems were significant to the dying
as well as the living, allowing one final bonding to
occur.

In the chapter about writing and dementia, those with
dementia were quite expressive, which is contrary to
what the general population expects. Thus we see that
they are more knowledgeable than we expect. It is
merely an inability to speak that causes us to dismiss
them.

In a chapter called “Mission Impossible,” the author
spends some time describing how Macedonia is really
two cultures and the work is to listen to storymaking
with young people attending integrated creativity
clubs. Macedonia used to be Yugoslavia, which explains
the difficulties. This group comprises youth both with
and without disabilities as well as Albanians and the
Slav ethnic Macedonians, and well as other groups. The
purpose is to teach young people to come together
through communication. The phrase that I found most
interesting in this chapter fits all wars. “You have
two sides and each creates an extraordinary range of
propaganda about the other. All opportunities for
actual knowledge or communication are closed down.
Luckily the war in Macedonia was quite short; but even
in this time there were many victims of this
propaganda as well as in the conflict itself.”(p. 71)
That describes all wars, long ago and still true
today. So the children are brought together with young
adults to engage in large-scale projects using
creative activities. The author admits the goal of
coming together will take a long time, but feels it
will result in conflict resolution and ultimately, a
union.

Another chapter is for teachers, students and writers
who use writing as therapeutic practice. Here is where
the theme of the book is expressly written. “Writing
and health were one and the same thing.”(p.79).In a
project called The Gift, these caregivers were asked
to write about illness, health or recovery, or birth,
or hospitals, or doctors.

The rest of the chapters of the book are similar. None
take place in the United States, and so it was even
more interesting for me to learn how alike we all
really are when you get down to it. In fact, one can
feel downright stupid because nothing takes place in
the US. However, such places no doubt do exist in the
US and should be written about.

Until then, this book is really a must-have for
therapists and others in the creative arts, so that
you can see how the workings of the human mind can be
displayed through the arts. Even with very serious
illness, the mind can talk. And that is the point of
the book.

©
2005 Patricia Ferguson

Patricia
Ferguson, Psy.D, is a clinical psychologist and author/editor. She has
numerous publications, including award-winning Apollo’s Lyre. She and her husband and
son live in northern California.   She
is author of Mean Girls Grown Up (Wiley, 2005).

Categories: General, SelfHelp