This article was downloaded by: [The University of Manchester Library]On: 19 October 2014, At: 12:16Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Poetry Therapy: TheInterdisciplinary Journal of Practice,Theory, Research and EducationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjpt20

Positive youth development throughthe use of poetry therapy: Thecontributing effects of language arts inmental health counseling with middleschool-age childrenKaitlyn KloserPublished online: 21 Oct 2013.

To cite this article: Kaitlyn Kloser (2013) Positive youth development through the use of poetrytherapy: The contributing effects of language arts in mental health counseling with middle school-age children, Journal of Poetry Therapy: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, Researchand Education, 26:4, 237-253, DOI: 10.1080/08893675.2013.849042

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08893675.2013.849042

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Positive youth development throughthe use of poetry therapy: Thecontributing effects of language artsin mental health counseling withmiddle school-age children

Kaitlyn Kloser*

Provided in this article is an outline of the school-based application and research on the contributingeffects of poetry therapy on positive youth development for the middle school-age client throughout acounseling internship at a Multidisciplinary Center. The focus of this article is on the integration ofpoetry therapy into mental health counseling in a school setting, where the population of interest islocated in an underserved, rural, low socioeconomic standing district. The poetry therapy activitiesused in treatment are based on the R.E.S. model provided by Mazza. This article commences with anoverview of the center and its functions, which is followed by the model’s linkage to the specifiedpopulation of interest and to the counselor’s professional role. This is followed by a description of theindividual components included in the model. This includes a report of the methods, process, andillustrations of each activity used in treatment. Preliminary findings from this study indicate that theuse of language arts had a contributing affect to positive youth development (e.g., promoting self-expression, self-esteem, self-identification, decision-making, and team cohesion, motivating for success,and aiding in cognitive processes).

Keywords Lower SES; mental health; middle school; multidisciplinary; poetry therapy; positiveyouth development

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to report on the integration of poetry therapy intomental health counseling throughout an internship at a university-based trainingfacility that functions to provide counseling services to underserved rural countiesthrough school settings. This article focuses on the population of a primarily lowsocioeconomic group living in a rural district. The services offered by the agency can

*Corresponding author. Kaitlyn Kloser, Department of English Literature, Florida State University,2320 SE Burton Street, Port St. Lucie, FL 34952, USA. Tel: 772-361-4940. Email: kk11c@my.fsu.edu

Journal of Poetry Therapy, 2013Vol. 26, No. 4, 237–253, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08893675.2013.849042

© 2013 National Association for Poetry Therapy

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be outlined as: providing counseling to children who experience behavioral andemotional problems in an effort to improve students’ communication skills,problem-solving skills and social skills, to learn anger control techniques, to increaseself-esteem, and to improve overall school functioning. Those students who areselected to receive services are attained through way of the school’s guidancecounselor, where referrals are received by parents/guardians and teachers, and wherethe student exhibits behavioral and/or emotional problems in their academic setting.Providing the practice of poetry therapy in school-based mental health services was acounseling intern who was undergoing poetry therapy training by a university socialwork program faculty member/licensed clinical social worker and being supervised bya licensed mental health counselor.

R.E.S. model: the model of relevance

Integration of the poetry therapy R.E.S. model into a multidisciplinary role

The multidisciplinary center serves as a training facility for graduate students inpsychology, as well as for graduate and undergraduate students in the College ofSocial Work, Music Therapy, Art Therapy, Child Development, Mental HealthCounseling, and other therapeutic programs, such as the fields of School Psychologyand Clinical Psychology. The agency’s allowance of interns across such a diversity ofdisciplines supports an integration of the therapies, where a team approach totreatment is utilized. Weekly supervisions and co-counseling with the interns andsupervisor enable such collaboration, where based on the disclosure of a client’sneeds, suggestions for treatment are made across specialties, which allows counselinginterns to create the most client appropriated counseling plan. Thus, interns engagein practices outside of their fields and incorporate interdisciplinary practices thatwould best fit their client, which generates an overarching client-centered influenceon the approach that motivates the counseling interns’ practices. Such fellowshipamong student counselors produces styles that incorporate, but are not limited to,play therapy, animal-assisted therapy, and art/music therapies, as described by theCoordinator of Counseling Services.

Therefore, the integration of poetry therapy into mental health counseling wasvaluable in being part of a multidisciplinary team. The unification of diversespecialties in the center supports the relevance of poetry therapy through the use ofthe R.E.S. model (Mazza, 2003), in that the multidimensional practice model has thepotential to address the cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains through therapy,and can, therefore, be adapted to most psychological practice models across a varietyof specialties. As emphasized by Mazza and Hayton (2013), the conceptual base ofthe R.E.S. model of poetry therapy encompasses not only poetry therapy in thetraditional sense, but also other related disciplines and methods that utilize languagearts in one form or another. Thus, bibliotherapy, journal therapy, narrative therapy,expressive arts therapy generally, and even music, dance, art, and drama therapiesfall within the boundary of the R.E.S. multidimensional model. The model consistsof three components: The receptive/prescriptive, the expressive/creative, and the

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symbolic/ceremonial. Included in the receptive/prescriptive division of the model areclient’s encounters with any form of literature that is introduced into therapy. Theexpressive/creative element functions to involve the use of client writing in atherapeutic capacity. Finally, the symbolic/ceremonial component embraces theinvolvement of metaphors, rituals, and storytelling. While the R.E.S. model isdivided into a three-part approach, each component serves to reinforce and be usedin conjunction with the others, rather than to be divided in practice.

The R.E.S. model’s contribution to academic advancement

Further substantiation of the relevance of the model to be used in the counselingintern’s role is linked to the school age population, where the specified school settingis a school that consistently receives an F grade from the state. The appropriatenessof providing poetry therapy, through the use of the R.E.S. model, to a school agepopulation, particularly one with low benchmarks and low socioeconomic standing,can be described in that it offers a judgment-free setting for students to improve theiruse of the language arts. The use of writing in the components of the expressive/creative component helps students to develop writing proficiency skills and aids inthe advancement of competency in effective written communication, when activitiesare completed with the exclusion of criticism from a counselor. Therefore, it isimportant to note that the counselor should establish the setting as a judgment freezone. During the second session with a 16-year-old, white, male client in seventhgrade—who will be regarded as Client A—as he began to get comfortable, heremarked, “I wonder if I spelled that word correctly.” Rather than asking which wordand helping him correct the spelling, the response, “It’s okay if you spell a wordwrong,” was given. This type of discourse encourages clients to keep writing, as itdecreases their anxiety. Accordingly, a few minutes later, he did ask for advice inspelling the word “afraid.” Likewise, during an expressive activity with another client,a 12-year-old, African-American female in sixth grade, who will be referred to asClient B, the session became a secure place for the student to improve spellingproficiency. The client was completing what can be referred to as an acrostic poem,which will be discussed later in greater detail, where one line of the poemcorresponds to each letter in a main word, such as in FIGHTING for the specifiedclient. During their completion of the poem, the student asked for assistance inspelling the words: “feel,” “hang,” and “fight.”

In addition, the receptive/prescriptive component offers students a chance forinteraction with literature, where they otherwise would not because of insecuritiesabout reading and writing abilities. This becomes especially relevant for studentswhose emotional and or behavioral problems have already interfered with school. Inparticular, Client A, who due to being moved through different homes, becamebehind in school by three grades. During an activity, where the client was asked toread aloud a preexisting poem titled Relief, he disclosed that he “doesn’t read muchbecause he’s not good at it.” Following reading the poem, the client participated inan activity included in the expressive/component. Upon being questioned about theirexperience, the client reported that everything about the activities was “fun,” and that

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he “finally felt like someone cared.” Aside from therapeutic capacities, incorporatingpoetry therapy became intellectually beneficial for this client. It could also very wellbe that this session helped raise the client’s self confidence in reading aloud, as hewas hesitant before the activity but pleased after reading the poem aloud. Therefore,while it is significant that activities be related to the needs and goals of a specificclient in order for activities to serve a therapeutic function, it is important to note thatin relation to the academic advantage of the model, it becomes appropriate to test thetherapeutic effectiveness of various poetry therapy activities on each of the clients ofthe specified school-age population.

Relevance of testing successfulness

In reference to the word test—each activity that incorporates poetry therapy will notbe favorable for all students. Based on preliminary findings, it has been observed thatthe school-age client is very clear in expressing their dislike for any certain activitybeing used in the therapeutic setting. During an intake interview with the same clientas referred to above, Client B, the client was direct in stating that she “didn’t likebeing asked all of these questions,” so blatantly, in fact, that the intake questionnairewas completed in two different sessions. However, even if their discontent is notclearly expressed, clients generally give nonverbal clues into their feelings: fidgeting,looking around/little eye contact, sighs, blank or bored expression, shrugging, or asagging posture. During the session, she was obvious in her nonverbal behavior aswell. Her eye contact was unfocused, she constantly looked out the window andaround the room, and her body was in constant motion, fidgeting with hands andfeet, while her facial expressions showed signs of disinterest and boredom. It isdemonstrated here that basic talk therapy would not be appropriate for this client,because she needs an activity that produces more involvement. The broadboundaries of the R.E.S. model allow it to encompass a wide range of activities,some of which proved successful for this client, and others with which she becameinattentive. This evidence supports two findings: that, in fact, certain therapyactivities will not be appropriate for all clientele; and, in congruence, certain therapyactivities will be most effective with specific clients. This population, in particular, isat a specific age where they are still exploring healthy ways of coping and ofexpression. Therefore, the appropriateness of including an integration of the arts inpractice in order to assess which activities are most productive with specific clientsbecomes apparent.

Methods, process, and illustrations

Receptive/prescriptive component

Introducing preexisting forms of literature into a therapeutic capacity sets thefoundation for the receptive/prescriptive component of the R.E.S. model. Commonis the introduction of poems into the session; however, it can include, but is notlimited to, using songs, short stories, or novels in a therapeutic capacity. In relation

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to the population of interest, and more specifically, in relation to the needs and goalsof the clients, this component served mostly as a facilitator for the expressivecomponents that followed the prescriptive exercises.

The model’s most prominent advantage, in relation to a humanistic centeredtheory, is in its ability to promote self-disclosure. In group, it was observed that whenmembers share their stories/feelings/conflicts, it can influence even very resistantclients to express their own emotions. In individual sessions, this same encourage-ment of disclosure can be reached when the preexisting poem is used as a facilitatorfor self-expression.

Receptive/ prescriptive combined with art

Because of the spring break holiday and a teacher workday, there were twoconsecutive weeks that the counselors were unable to see their clients. Therefore,upon the resumption of counseling, Shel Silverstein’s (1974) poem “Treehouse” wasutilized for an activity with a client in order to revive rapport and stimulate theclient’s self-expression.

After reading the poem aloud, the client was able to share her thoughts on thepoem. Then, the client was encouraged to draw her own tree house, or “safe place”/“secret place”/“favorite place.” It could be constructed however and wherever theclient decided. It would contain only the things and people of the client’s choice,as well.

Client B was the participant for this activity. She is the same client that grewunfocused during the intake process, and requested that she not be asked so manyquestions. Because we were still in the process of developing rapport before thebreak, it was a concern that the break would impact our progress. It became apparentthroughout the session, however, that her security with me as her counselor hadwithstood, and would continue to develop. Throughout reading the poem aloud, shelooked to me for advice in reading some of the words, such as leafy. Although shestruggled, she read the poem in its entirety. She was exhibiting signs that her abilityto stay on task was improving. Whereas with the previous activity she chose to onlycomplete half of it, for this activity she stayed engaged throughout both parts of theactivity. She stayed on task not only with the activity, but also was very involved inself-expression. We discussed her purple and pink walls, what she would do in hertree house, such as listen to music. When we discussed who she would allow into hertree house, she led the conversation to her brother. He was currently in the hospitalfor having fluid in his lungs, and she was worried. The fact that she shared thisinformation, it could be argued, proves something of the activity’s success. Atthe closing of the session, she asked to have her art work. As I walked her out of theroom, she excitedly gave it to the school’s guidance counselor. Immediately beforeshe handed her the drawing, the guidance counselor remarked, “This is one ofthem,” to the man that she was with. Immediately following receiving the picture, shestated, “Now I feel bad.” It appeared that the guidance counselor had beendiscussing something among the broad terms of: children that get in trouble, those

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often referred to as “bad.” The client did not notice, and ran off to class with a bigsmile. It was apparent in the counselors face how the act had affected her.

As noted, the counseling interns often collaborate on treatment plans. Thisactivity was shared the activity with another counselor, who chose to utilize theactivity in a session with one of her clients. Since an office was being shared for theday, I chose to sit-in on the session, which we often did. Her client recognized thepoem Treehouse; he had read the collection of poems before. Because he knew it wasmy book, this allowed for a level of connection between us during the session, whichcontributed to our establishing rapport. More importantly, though, it proves thatclients look to preexisting poems on their own terms as well.

Receptive/prescriptive combined with music

Songs can be incorporated in this component, as well, as a means of using literaturein a therapeutic capacity. For the purpose of the activity, the counselors used whattools we had to our advantage—the IPhone. Because of the advances in moderntechnology, it becomes possible to have access to any song instantly. One specificactivity that was conducted in a girls’ group consisted of the introduction of aninspirational song, of the counselor’s choice, into session in order to elicit feedbackfrom the group members, and to encourage the individual group members to share apreexisting song that was meaningful to them. The songs were to be used asfacilitators of self-expression. Upon commencing the group, the song Greatest Loveof All (Creed & Masser, 1977), as sung by Whitney Houston, was played. Althoughthe song in itself did not elicit much response, there is evidence to follow that thepreexisting component, again, encourages self-expression in succeeding activities.Furthermore, in using this activity within the first few meetings of the girl’s group, italso proved to promote group-cohesion. This activity becomes especially relevantbecause most clients of the school-age population already look to music for specifictherapeutic means. The first client who shared did not know the name of her song, sorather than having it played, she chose to sing it. Her song represented the way thatsong lyrics can be used for motivation. The song, she said, “gives the message that Ishould not spend too much time stressing, and that I should spend more timecelebrating me!” When she listens to the song, she remembers that is what youshould do. Following, a client shared a song that for her holds the meaning: youshould love people for who they are on the inside, not just on the outside. Her songof choice was “My Boo” (Mahone & Terry, 1996). For her, the song representedsomething that she believes in, and in doing so, the lyrics were able to validate herfeelings. The next client that shared had been experiencing personal problems, withrumors about herself; correspondingly, she chose to play a song called Rumors(Malphurs, 2010). Listening to the lyrics of the song, she said, “made her feel betterabout her own situation.” The song not only validated her feelings in choosing toignore the rumors, but also functioned in a therapeutic capacity in that listening tothe song could improve her mood. The last song to be shared was titled You MakeBeautiful Things (Gungor, 2010). The client explained that her song was chosen forits ability to improve her mood and make her feel comforted when she was feeling

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down. This song, for the client, was associated with God’s love for her, and also witha special memory that took place at church. She and the other children at the churchwere taught the sign language for the song and performed it on stage. For thesereasons, the client self-reported, that the song is able to impact how she is feeling.Although the symbolic component has not yet been discussed, this example showshow a song became symbolic for the client in God’s love for them. The song becamesymbolic for the associations that actually give the song its ability to be a tool forthe client when self-soothing. Once every member had shared, this client showed theother members how to sign a few of the words from the song. They were all workingtogether, to teach and show each other the signs—they were working as a cohesivegroup.

Merging of receptive/prescriptive and expressive/creative

This approach of using preexisting forms of literature can be utilized, as well, inconjunction with the expressive component. In using the poem “Relief” (collaborativepoem cited in Mazza, 2003, p. 51) to encourage clients to be self-expressive, it wasfound that the succeeding expressive component in the activity became a safety valvefor that expression. Eliciting client’s responses with poetic stems on emotionsprompted the clients to share their primary thoughts associated with those feelings,without any directive from the counselor, which enabled client-centered discourse tofollow.

Relief

Is voicing

What you’ve been afraid to say.

Taking a weight

Off of my back

And feeling more free.

Looking

At the feelings that are okay.

Are there any feelings

That are not okay?

Sometimes

I just don’t know my feelings

And that’s okay, too. (p. 51)

Based on the represented needs of clients and on those feeling stems suggested byMazza (2003), a pre-structured poem was developed in order to appropriate a poemthat touched on a wide variety of emotions, and which concluded with the poetic

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stem: “relief is…,” which mimics the poem above. Stems, such as, “anger is…” and“depression is…” were utilized for clients to express problems in their lives, whilebeginnings, such as, “hope is…,” and “happiness is…” provided a means of includingnonthreatening and/or favorable discourse.

The first client to complete the activity, Client C, an African-American female,age 13 in 7th grade, provided responses, such as:

Anger is… punching an item, or acting in a violent manner.

This response, for example, enabled for a discussion to follow on the topic of healthyways of expression. This is the conversation in which the client disclosed that writingabout her anger aided in her impulse control.

Frustration is… when a headache comes in.

This response showed the cognitive ability of the client to realize the warning signsher body gives her when emotions run high. The following discourse aided the clientin realizing warning signs for other emotions, such as anger. When her knees shakeor she begins to ball up her fists, those are warning signs to remove herself from thesituation and write, because that is her selected coping strategy.

Sadness it… head hung low, (deep thoughts)

Here, the response served as a spring-board for conversation, where I asked the clientto disclose some of those deep thoughts.

Relief is… speaking your mind/feelings.

This is her concluding response, whichmay prove two things. First, that she understoodthemessage portrayed in the poemRelief, and that it did, in fact, encourage her to shareher feelings. Furthermore, it could be argued that in the case of this client, she found theexpression generated during the activity to be relieving, proving it to be therapeutic.

The second client to complete the activity was Client A. This was the thirdsession with this client, who had been referred to counseling for grief therapy. Hisresponses reflected the story of him moving from out of the town where he previouslylived to his current town of residence.

Sadness is… how I felt when my mom passed away.

Depression is… how I felt when I moved out of Baldwin.

Grief is… how I felt on the ride to Monticello.

Fear is… how I felt when I first got out the car.

Happiness is… how I felt when I moved in with my aunt.

Relief is… how I felt when I was comfortable in the house.

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The activity allowed the session to be client centered, as his responses clearlysignified that the process of moving after his mom’s death was the primary subjectthat he wanted to focus on. Following the completion of the poetic stems, the clientshared the story with me, verbally and in more detail. During this discussion, theclient verbalized a willingness to participate in some grief therapy activities, and toexpress his feelings about his mom, which supports that he was finding therapeuticvalue through the expression in the exercise. He gave his responses a narrativequality, which displays the creative capacity found in the expressive exercises. Thenarrative form in which he created his story allowed it to be looked at moreobjectively. In this particular session we were eventually able to focus on andemphasize the story’s happy ending. This led our conversation to the positives in theclient’s present and future life. The session indicated that for this client discussingthe past seemed to free him cognitively in order to look to the future, and also how byfocusing on the positives of the past, he was encouraged to look for happiness in thefuture. Furthermore, helping the client reach an optimistic outlook at the end of thesession, after speaking so in depth about some very difficult subjects, allowed theclient to reach an emotional state that was appropriate for him to return back to class.This information reiterates the importance of including positive emotions in thepoetic stems, especially when working in a school setting.

The expressive/creative component

The expressive/creative element of the model encompasses any facilitation of writtenexpression, including, but not limited to: poetry, letters, journals, and stories. Inregard to the appropriate implementation of activities in a session, the mostadvantageous approach is to have tools in your toolbox and to use them on an asneeds basis. In congruence with a more client-centered approach, a professionalshould choose an activity based on their client’s needs and the goal of the session.

Findings from the use of activities included in the expressive/creativecomponent, within the first few sessions, exhibited that the component aids inestablishing rapport between the client and the counselor. As the client finds thepencil being placed in their hand, a sense of equality envelops over their “client”role, because they are more easily able to impact the direction of the discourse. Itappeared that giving the client influence over the topic, through the use ofexpressive exercises, allowed for a relationship with a greater feeling of corres-pondence, and, therefore, theoretically, encouraged the clients to expressthemselves. This approach differs from basic talk therapy, during which thecounselor asks questions and the client offers responses, creating a setting inwhich the counselor seems to lead the discourse. The theory is that the leveling ofinfluence with the middle school age population aided greatly in developingrapport, which lays the ground work for trust with a client. Furthermore, becausethe primary key in establishing rapport is to show the client that you are listening,poetry therapy activities can be utilized by the counselor, as well. The practice ofreflective listening, as operated by Carl Rogers, is to repeat, or reflect, back to the

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client what he or she has said. The activities themselves serve as a record of theclient’s dialog.

Throughout providing services as an intern, the expressive component wasintroduced within the first few sessions with any client. The preliminary exercise foruse was the acrostic poem, with each line of the poem corresponding to the specificclient’s name. When the goal of the session is to encourage the client to open upabout themselves to the counselor for the first time, the acrostic name poem allowsthem to express themselves with their own discretion. Rather than asking the clientopen-ended questions about his/her self, this exercise accords to the client-centeredapproach in that the client is able to open up with no directive from the counselor.The client’s responses may then be used as a springboard for conversation, where itcan be acknowledged that the discourse is directly an effect of the client’s influence.A client, for example, completed the following poem, where the letters arerearranged in order to withhold confidentiality:

N: nice at times

A: always prepared

S: shy sometimes

A: apples are 1 of my fav. Fruit

I: intelligent

H: heart broken:/

A: always encouraging someone

Prompted by the client’s responses, the discourse that followed became a way toincorporate nonthreatening conversation, while allowing the client to open upabout personal feelings. For example, the discussion was lead to the topic ofapples, where the client shared that she likes the sour green kind, and that shelikes to eat a lot of fruit. Respectively, the response “heart broken” promotedconversation about her grandmother. Since her death, the client has feltheartbroken. Therefore, this activity was able to give insight to the counselorduring the first session, when goals are being set, that the client may benefit fromgrief therapy. Correspondingly, the word heartbroken, in itself, became a portal ofself-expression that allowed the client to express feelings about her grandmother.Moreover, the responses: intelligent and always encouraging someone providedthe client with an opportunity to reinforce positive aspects about herself. Afterdiscussing the client’s responses to the poem, the client was prompted to write aparagraph, as if she was writing a book about herself. In support of this activitybeing client-centered, the client disclosed that she writes books on her own time.The client wrote:

[She] is very talented. She love to sing and dance. Also, she love to help peopleout and very kind-hearted. Her favorite food & color are hotwings, & hot pink.

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She is shy and like when people aggravate her. She have alot of people that lookup to her and she would like to lead them down the right path!! ☺

In analyzing this paragraph, the affect from the former discussion on the acrosticpoem responses becomes apparent in the latter exercise. She discussed more of herfavorite foods: hot wings; she expanded on the response of shy: she is shy and do notlike when people aggravate her, which depicts greater self-disclosure; but mostly, sheprovided positive attributes of herself: she is very talented, loves to sing and dance,loves to help people out, is very kind-hearted, she has a lot of people looking up toher, and would like to lead them down the right path. In writing her responses forboth activities, the client was caused to think about, decide on, and then explain whyshe reached specific conclusions about herself. In doing so, the first activity lead to agreater sense of self-identification, and following, the narrative paragraph displays itseffects on her self-confidence.

In regard to testing successfulness as to which activities prove most effective, anactivity other than the acrostic poem was chosen for trial, during the first session,with a specific client. The client was an African-American male, age 13, and in the7th grade, who was referred for grief counseling by his mother. During the in-take,he answered “I don’t know” more often than not to the questions. The young manseemed purposefully detached from his feelings. Therefore, an activity that wasconsidered nonthreatening was chosen, where the goal of the session was to promotethe client’s self-disclosure. The activity chosen to be utilized is the same activity asdescribed in the prescriptive/receptive component: This activity involved reading apoem titled “Treehouse” (Silverstein, 1974). Following reading the poem aloud, theclient was prompted to draw his own tree house, or “safe place” or “secret place” or“favorite place.” It could be whatever and wherever the client chose. It would haveonly the things, and people, of the client’s choice as well.

This client, at this point in the activity, said that he did not know how to drawanything without looking at a picture that he could copy. Even when reminded thatthere was no wrong way to draw the picture, he insisted that he was unable. This isan important example to note, because it exemplifies the significance of being client-centered. In instances such as this, it becomes beneficial to have a variety of tools touse. This client seemed not only detached from his feelings and imagination, but alsoto be slightly depressed, which was causing low self-esteem and self-identification.Whereas the acrostic poem has been attributed to aiding in the specified problems,for the example above, the client was given the option of doing the acrostic poemwith the letters of his name. To this he agreed. This example exemplifies the fact thatthe school-age client is very open in expressing their discontentment with activities.Furthermore, it shows the sustained success of using the acrostic name poem, whenin the first few sessions the counselor’s goal is to promote self-disclosure and to setlong-term goals for future sessions.

Acrostic poems can also be utilized for students to reflect on and reachconclusions about certain ideas. Likewise, if the counselor becomes interested abouta certain subject in their client’s life, such as family or friends, those words can beutilized in the acrostic fashion as well. Again, clients can express ideas about the

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poetic subject without any lead in direction from the counselor. While the counseloris choosing the topic, the client is still able to have much control over the direction ofthe discourse. Client B, who was referred for behavioral problems, agreed to discussher history of referrals. Following her disclosure of the stories behind the referrals, itbecame apparent that the major cause of disciplinary action for this student was forfighting. Therefore, the design of an acrostic poem corresponding to the wordFIGHTING was utilized. Her responses were off in relation to format, but as theprocess of the activity is intended to allow clients to reach their own conclusions andthen share them, structure is not a matter of importance. In fact, the client only wroteas much as she wanted to, but that is not a drawback—here it shows two things. First,that the client understands their authority in the session. Also, in this case, theclient’s responses can be interpreted as a reflection of her thought process in reachingconclusions about fighting—thus, highlighting her cognitive progression on thesubject.

F: I feel bad about fighting because it’s not good to fight

I: I know it’s not good to fight

G: I don’t want to fight anymore because [people] get hurt

H: Hang out with the right people make it easier

For F-it seems she clearly reflects how she feels about the subject: it made her feelbad because it’s not good to fight. Then, she repeats for the next line: I know it’s notgood to fight, as if recognizing how she felt about fighting brought this thought toconsciousness. The statement then progresses in the next line to include aconclusion: I do not want to fight anymore. Finally, she sets her own goal for herselfin order to keep from fighting. In a session that followed, the client disclosed that shewas now hanging out with who she considered to be the right people. Furthersupport that the client’s responses aided her in reaching a conclusion about fightingis provided in the fact that she did not participate in any physical altercations afterthis session, which lasted throughout the allotted 5 week period that counseling wasactive.

Continuing on, another exercise encompassed in the creative component is anactivity defined as a Group Poem, which was utilized in a girls’ group setting. Theco-counselors selected the first topic: Happiness. In an explanation to show how thisactivity was focused around the clients, this first topic was designated as a way tobegin the first surge of expression, as it’s often easier to discuss good emotions thanbad. The poem began: Happiness is…. Clients shared lines, such as, “being withpeople you love” and “having fun with friends.” However, one client chose to be sillyin their answer, and wrote: “squirrels doing the harlem shake under the pool.” Thiscaused the other girls to giggle and to be silly themselves, and, accordingly, affectedthe decision for the next topic: Silliness; so the first line read Silliness is….Throughout their responses, the girls laughed with each other, and their responsesbegan to flow more freely, as their comfort levels within the group progressed. At thispoint, it became apparent that the group poem was aiding in group cohesiveness.

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Further support of this lies in that two of the girls in the group began to work througha problem in their friendship, which was an issue that both clients had disclosed totheir counselor separately in individual sessions two weeks prior. During the grouppoem process is when they chose to be open with each other. This lead to our nextpoetic topic—Friendship is… The answers included phrases, such as, “when you arethere for your friend,” “someone that you can count on to have your back no matterwhat happens,” and “people doing nice things for eachother.” The group poem,then, proved not only to promote group cohesiveness, but also to promote positiveinterpersonal relationships.

The next topic of the group poem was Parents, because home life and parentsare an ongoing topic that the clients choose to discuss in group. This topic highlightsa feature of poetry therapy, in that it requires clients to choose specific answers.When they write a line, it means the client has reached a conclusion, which can helppromote understanding about the idea. Overlapping with this quality is that,simultaneously, the activities are helping to specify the child’s emotions/thoughts/feelings. This form of information processing can aid in cognitive development andemotional maturity, which develops well into high school years. As highlighted in oneclient’s answer: Parents are… “mean and very strict but most of all loving,” you cansee the complexity of her ideas. While mean and loving are generally at opposite endsof the spectrum, you can see how her answer reflects a cognitive process. The clientis forced to specify her feelings about a certain idea, in order to provide a response.Throughout considering the response for her parents, the client’s thoughts progresspast “mean and very strict”, to identify that strictness, which can often be perceivedby adolescents as parents being “mean,” can be connected to ideas of love andprotection; therefore demonstrating the exercise’s contribution to understanding andemotional maturity.

Although there are many pre-structured activities, the following example isimportant in that it displays how quickly and simply the use of language arts canbe adapted to fit the needs of any client. The specified client came into thesession being extremely quiet and holding his head down. Rather than talking, heused slight head nods to depict his responses—no, he shook his head, he did notwant to do an activity and he did not want to talk. “Well,” said his counselor,“can you write?.” The client nodded yes, and so the counselor suggested that hewrite three things about his day. “Frustrating, fun, and cold,” he wrote. “Okay,”she asked, “can you tell me why?” The child drew lines from these words andwrote words to define why he felt the way he did. Teachers were “frustrating,”from which he drew a line and wrote the word “racist,” and “a race in PE” wasfun, and, based on interpretation, he assumed cold was a sufficient description onits own, for he offered no more information on the subject. “Your teacher isfrustrating” (this is the type of reflective discourse noted) said his counselor, “Isthis the teacher that you’ve told me about before?,” his counselor asked. “Yes!”said the client. From there, the client began to talk, and even proceeded to do theactivity. This example shows how any client can find written expression easierthan verbal expression, and furthermore, how written expression can encourageverbal and self-expression.

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Merging of the expressive/creative and symbolic/ceremonial combined with music

During the last session, before completing the exit interview, with Client B, she askedif she could write a song. This request displays the client’s own certainty that thiscomponent is capable of possessing therapeutic value. It became apparent throughthe lyrics that she was utilizing the creative component to express, reflect, andconclude on thoughts in relation to the progress made throughout counselingregarding her behavior. “Counseling,” she stated, “helped me be better in class,” andtaught her that “You can do better at things. Your counselor will help you.” Thelyrics are a clear reflection of these thoughts:

I can be anything

If I put my mind to it!

& I know I can do it

I can do everything

If I pay attention

In class and get my education.

If I stop playing

& keep paying

Attention

I can do anything, if I put my mind to it!

Her progress can be essentially traced throughout this manuscript. While during thefirst session she was unfocused, in the course of the next session she began toparticipate in activities, such as the acrostic poem for FIGHTING. Over time, asrapport became better established, she became fully engaged in the activities from theR.E.S. model. She expressed during the exit interview that she was not open tocounseling when we started, but overtime she began to look forward to the sessionsand to feel the therapeutic effects, especially in regard to her behavior. Because thiswas the last session, this song held great value, as it exemplifies what she will takefrom counseling—her remembrance of it. Instruments were brought in, and together,as counselor and client, we sang the song aloud for our last session. “This was a reallyimportant session,” she concluded. This remark is most likely a product of the powerof remembrance in one’s life, which is one principal that lays the supportingfoundation for the Symbolic/ceremonial component.

Symbolic/ceremonial component

Whereas with the specific population, the receptive/prescriptive component servedmostly as a catalyst for self-expression, the expressive/creative component primarilyprovided the capacity to develop into the symbolic/ceremonial component. To definethis element, is to describe the use of metaphors, rituals, symbols, storytelling, and

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performance. While elements of both preceding components can be included in thesymbolic division, its essence depends greatly on the importance of symbols in aperson’s life and the predominance of remembrance.

In working with the school-age population, it was observed that many clientschose to utilize poetry therapy, in the form of using writing in a therapeutic capacity,before they came to be clients. Client C shared that at home she writes to express andcontrol anger; she writes stories and poems, which can be classified under the creativecomponent. She self-reported that in every circumstance, writing how she felt assistedin her control of aggression. There was only one occurrence when the writing,contrastingly, fueled her anger. She took to a different therapeutic means; she burnedthe paper, and with it, symbolically burned all her anger toward the subject. Thisproved successful. In addition to providing a circumstantial success, this examplehighlights the natural progression of the R.E.S. model from expressive/creative tosymbolic/ceremonial.

Another female client, age 12 in 6th grade, similarly, expressed that she writesvery often. She writes stories, letters to friends, and daily diary passages. However,she claimed that her practices were losing therapeutic impact because she was writingon loose leaf sheets of paper that would get lost or thrown away. She took it uponherself to ask her counselors for a journal. She wanted her writings to be boundtogether, as if in a book. She wanted the symbolic quality that could be found in ajournal. Analytically, she was ready for her creative expression to advance into aceremonial practice. Upon being provided her own journal by the multidisciplinarycenter, the client consistently used the practice for the 6 months that she was undertreatment, and reported that she intends to continue the custom after our sessionsconclude. In contributing to our sessions, the client would offer the counselorscertain passages to read in order to provide them with information that she found toohard to talk about; such as a sexual incident on the bus, for which she was referred tocounseling. The expressive portion, then, enabled the client to express things sheotherwise would not have been able to, whereas the symbolic quality of the journalaided in her self-expression.

Merging of symbolic/ceremonial and expressive/creative

Because Client A faced a major loss in his life, and was, correspondingly, referred forgrief counseling, it is relevant that an activity with ceremonial value be utilized. Thisrelates to a person’s need for the remembrance of a lost loved one. Therefore, theclient was given the option of completing a Loss Poem, which encouraged expressionthrough the use of poetic stems, to which he accepted. The poem is completed by theclient providing responses for the deceased one.

You were related to: My aunt, uncle, my brothers, step-dad, and real dad.

Three things you loved: Cooking, her children, and her husband.

Three things you were good at: Being a mom, being a loving person, and sports.

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Three things you regretted: Taking my step-dad back, having kids with mybrother’s dad, and meeting my dad.

I really miss the way you: Cared about us, play sports with us, and your cooking.

One of your favorite foods was: Steak

I’ll never forget the time we: Went to Wild Adventures.

I wish I had told you: How much I loved you.

If you were still here you’d be: At my grandma’s house.

If you were still here I’d be: Doing better in school and not have so much onmy mind.

One thing I wish you could see is: How big me and my brothers are getting.

I will always remember you because: You were always there for me.

When the poem was completed, the client pasted it on a piece of construction paper,as if to create a frame, and then the client read the poem aloud, both of which aidedin its ceremonial value. The therapeutic value can be seen in his answer during theexit interview; in response as to if counseling had helped his life become better:“Before I couldn’t talk about my mom, and it has helped me open up about her.”The client took the poem home to hang up on his wall, and with it, he took the lessonthat expression is constructive.

Discussion

The findings for this report are preliminary and reflect only one sample from theentire population of interest. Poetry and other forms of creative writing were effectivein integrating poetry therapy into mental health counseling for disadvantaged middleschool age youth. The techniques and activities derived from the R.E.S. modelproduced results that indicate a contribution to positive youth development. Furtherapplication and evaluation of the R.E.S. component to serve in a therapeutic capacityin mental health counseling are warranted.

AcknowledgementsI have the utmost gratitude for Terry Abell, M. Ed, licensed Mental Health Counselor andCoordinator of Counseling Services at Florida State University’s Multidisciplinary Center forallowing me the opportunity to be a part of her supervised team, and for not only teaching me howto counsel, but also for showing me the kind of person it takes to be a counselor.

References

Creed, L., & Masser, M. (1977). Greatest love of all [Recorded by Whitney Houston]. On WhitneyHouston [CD]. London: EMI Golden Horizon Music and Golden Torch Music.

Gungor, M. (2010). Beautiful things. On Beautiful Things [CD]. Independent.Mahone, C., & Terry, R. (1996). My boo [Recorded by Jermain Dupri]. On So So Def Bass All Stars

[CD]. So So Def.

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Malphurs, J. (2010). Rumors. On Flockaveli [CD]. Houston: Next Level Studios; Los Angeles:Nightbird Studios; Atlanta: S-Line Ent.

Mazza, N. (2003). Poetry therapy: Theory and practice. New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.Mazza, N. F., & Hayton, C. J. (2013). Poetry therapy: An investigation of a multidimensional clinical

model. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(1), 53–60. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2012.10.002Silverstein, S. (1974). Treehouse. In Where the sidewalk ends (p. 79). New York, NY: Harper & Row.

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