Power in Poetry
Melissa Call
My Story
When I was 7 years-old my twin brother and I were adopted from Taiwan by an American couple.
One of the things I struggled to process for many years was being abandoned by my birth mother. I had talked about it, thought about it and came up with a million reasons why it happened. But it never made sense.
When I was in high school, I took a creative writing class. That was when I was introduced to Sarah Kay and spoken word poetry.
This poem by Sarah Kay changed my life.
After I listened to that poem, I started writing my own. I started processing what I had gone through as a child, in ways I had never done before.
I wrote about my birth mom, how hard it was that she left us, how my life felt so complicated because of it, but also how grateful I was.
Up until that moment, I had never thought of my situation as something I was grateful for.
That is why this project matters to me.
There are children out there just like me, who have been through similar experiences as me, or who have had gone through harder things.
These types of experiences have been categorized as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
These children, like me, need a means to learn to process their experiences.
The Plan
What we know about Kids
Academic
Growth
ACEs
Poetry/Creative Writing Project
Outcomes in terms of academic standards
Wellbeing Outcomes
Disturbance
Possible Measures of Impact
Part I�What We Know
ACEs
1 in 6 adults reported having experienced four or more types of adverse childhood experiences. (ACEs)
“The educational potential of many children may not be achieved due to exposure to adversity in childhood…Children with multiple adversities had substantially increased odds of not attaining the expected level at each educational assessment.”
-Evans, A., et al.
Children ages 1-5 reporting any of the 9 ACEs measured had higher risk of delay than children reporting no specific ACEs
Part II�What We Can Do
Why Poetry?
In a study called Something to hang my life on: the health benefits of writing poetry for people with serious illnesses, they found that Poetry and writing were beneficial in helping patients process their diagnosis of serious illnesses. Having a physical product was helpful to them.
A quote form the study said, “Both writing and psychotherapy provide an opportunity for each individual to create a ‘second story’ that makes sense of experience…”
The same can be said for children with Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Nicholas Mazza, former vice president and current board member of the National Association for Poetry Therapy (NAPT) stated this in his book about the effectiveness of group poetry therapy, Poetry Therapy
“The poem and/or song seemed to tap quicky into the affective realm of individuals, bringing feelings to the surface.”
To Summarize
Poetry helps people open up and process difficult experiences. Being able to express emotions is the primary benefit that we are focusing on. This trait will be effective in helping children who have been affected by ACEs.
Part III�Benefits
Expressing Emotions and its Impact
Decision Making
Reframing problems
Depression
Anxiety
Attaining Goals
Part IV�Proposal
6–7-week workshop
An existing poem will be picked a week by facilitators.
The existing poem will line up with an emotion that they want to focus on.
They can discuss the poem, from meaning to style.
The kids will work on poems of their own regarding that emotion for the week.
If it’s a daily workshop, an open mic/reading can be held at the end of the week, if it’s once or twice a week reading can be done at the end of the workshop.
*This plan is adaptable.
Where this Plan can be Pitched
Voice Advocacy:
Center for Hope
Part V�Possible Measurable Outcomes
Wellbeing Outcomes
Before and after the workshop we can survey the students on their emotions.
We can look at the impact:
Academic Outcomes
How did they do in school beforehand?
How are they doing in school now?
How are they performing on standardized test compared to before the workshop?
How has their writing and reading skills improved?
Part VI�Poetry
Loss
Depression
Distress (perfectionism)
Anxiety
Empowered
Other
Bianca Phipps - Almosts
Loss
Depression
Distress (perfectionism)
Anxiety
Empowered
Other
Sabrina Benaim – Explaining My Depression to My Mother
Loss
Depression
Distress (perfectionism)
Anxiety
Empowered
Other
Mia Mayor - Perfect
Loss
Depression
Distress (perfectionism)
Anxiety
Empowered
Other
Brenna Twohy- Anxiety: A Ghost Story
Loss
Depression
Distress (perfectionism)
Anxiety
Empowered
Other
Clementine Von Radics – For Teenage Girls
Loss
Depression
Distress (perfectionism)
Anxiety
Empowered
Other
Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye – When Love Arrives
References
Cprek, S. E., Williamson, L. H., McDaniel, H., Brase, R., & Williams, C. M. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and risk of childhood delays in children ages 1–5. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 37(1), 15-24. doi:10.1007/s10560-019-00622-x
Mazza, N. (2003). Poetry therapy : theory and practice. Brunner-Routledge.
Rickett, C. ( 1 ), Greive, C. ( 2 ), & Gordon, J. ( 3 ). (n.d.). Something to hang my life on: The health benefits of writing poetry for people with serious illnesses. Australasian Psychiatry, 19(3), 265–268. https://doi.org/10.3109/10398562.2011.562298
Wong, E., Tschan, F., Messerli, L., & Semmer, N. K. (2013). Expressing and amplifying positive emotions facilitate goal attainment in workplace interactions. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 188. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00188
Webpage references