Healing through Poetry Conference

The Open Frame

A beautiful day in Belfast
my body can taste the life
of plants and rivers
my tears are mine not yours
quilts are our ancestors
I gather these pebbles
and remember my place.

She curls up inside her coat
under Belfast's autumnal sky
the leaves fall asleep and so do I
I am grateful for connection
with once strangers.

Wordlessly good
emotional upheaval
a matter of life and death
the open frame of poetry.


This group poem was written by participants of IPTN's Healing Through Poetry
Conference '19 held in the Wellington Hotel, Belfast.

Poetry Therapy Ezine Autumn '19

Check out link to our new Poetry Therapy Newsletter here Poetry Therapy Ezine Autumn 19
 

Issuu no longer allows us to embed the ezine on our blog but you can still read it on their
website.

Two Poetry Therapy Workshops in Belfast

Here are links to two poetry therapy workshops at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast on  21 September '19 and 30 November '19:

Poetry Therapy in Practice: Finding the light through poetry

https://crescentarts.org/courses/poetry-therapy-in-practice-finding-the-light-through-poetry 

Poetry Therapy in Practice: Poetry Art - the stillness between

https://crescentarts.org/courses/poetry-therapy-in-practice-poetry-art--the-stillness-between

Self-Discovery through Poetry Afternoon

A 'Self-discovery through Poetry' afternoon with Carol Boland, Poetry Therapy Practitioner, will be held in the Lennon Centre, Annagh Long, Gorey, Co. Wexford on Sunday 25 August '19.

No experience is necessary for this experiential session and participants' poems will not be critiqued.

Afternoon tea is included in the fee of €15. Places are limited so to reserve your place, as not  to be disappointed, email bolandcarol@hotmail.com or contact Bernie Walsh.

Healing through Poetry Programme

HEALING THROUGH POETRY 
12th OCTOBER 2019

Wellington Park Hotel, 21 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6RU


PROGRAMME

9.15 Registration

9.30 Intro and welcome Shelley Tracey, IPTN chair

9.45-11.15 Workshop 1 Carol Boland 'Travelling Through Time with Poetry'
‘In every adult there lurks a child— an eternal child, something that is always becoming, is never completed, and calls for unceasing care, attention, and education. That is the part of the personality which wants to develop and become whole.’ Carl Jung
The concept of the inner child is not a new one. It is present in mythology where heroes are children who are threatened in some way. Carol Boland travels back in time, through the poems of CarolAnn Duffy, to explore how childhood wounds continue to constrain adult life, with particular reference to John Bradshaw’s observation that, ‘For many of us, finding our inner child is like finding home for the first time’.

11.15-11.30 Coffee break

11.30-1.00 Keynote: Paula Cunningham 'The Uses of Constraint'
Paula’s session will begin with a short reading from her work, followed by a reflection on Auden’s famous statement: ‘Poetry makes nothing happen’. We will participate in a creative activity with the possibility of drafting a poem.


1.00 -1.45 Lunch

1.45-3.15 Workshop 2 Theresa Kelly 'More to me than meets the eye'
In this workshop we will write from the Trickster Myth, taking One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest as our prompt. We will explore the constraints modern society can place on the individual as a result of its views on mental health issues. Working with symbols of our own shadow side we will aim to begin to integrate that which we most dislike in ourselves and so bring liberation from imprisonment that unconsciousness invariably leads to.


3.15-3.30 Tea break

3.30-5.00 Workshop 3 Mari Alschuler 'Creating a breathing space: Writing and collage for self-care'

The concept of self-care is one that we hear much about these days, but many people are confused by what it actually means in practice. We all lead increasingly busy lives and, in this hands-on workshop, we will explore methods for using this limited free space for our self-care. These methods can also help poetry and mental health therapists to heal from bearing witness to often-traumatic client stories
We will begin with a short meditation as an introductory activity. This will be followed by the exploration of poetry relating to self-care as prompts for writing. We will also make a collage based on a self-care theme, and share and discuss our work.



5.00-5.15 Conclusion



BOOKING INFORMATION
Fee : €65 (IPTN & Lapidus members)
€85 Non-members (please note that if membership fees are paid at the same time as the conference fees, the lower rate will apply)
Membership fees: €15 Fees payable in € to Irish Poetry Therapy Network

Conference fees and membership fees may be paid electronically.
Please put your name on the payment reference
Permanent TSB
Account number: 86899860
Sort code: 990643
IBAN: IE90IPBS99064386899860
Enquiries and cheques in € to: Bernie Walsh, Treasurer IPTN, 60 Hazelwood, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland. Places are limited, so to ensure you will not be disappointed, please reserve your place by emailing irishpoetrytherapynetwork@gmail.com

Meals available from the hotel


HOTEL ACCOMMODATION
The hotel is holding some bedrooms available for conference delegates for 11/10/2019.
The price per single is £75.00 B&B and double or twin will be £95.00
Guests can book their room by either calling or emailing reservations quoting block code IPTN111019. The hotel requires a credit or debit card from guests at the time of booking for guarantee.
Any rooms not booked from the allocation block by 13.09.19 will automatically be released – any booking after this date will be subject to availability

Healing through Poetry - 8th Annual Conference

HEALING THROUGH POETRY -

 8^th Annual Conference         

Saturday 12^th October 2019 

9.15-5.00pm

This year, IPTN’s Conference takes place in Belfast

Join us for a day of personal development through the worlds of poetry and creativity. Qualified and experienced facilitators working in Ireland and the USA will lead these experiential sessions. No writing experience is necessary and work will not be critiqued.

Key Speaker

We are delighted to welcome award-winning poet Paula Cunningham, who will explore the theme of ‘Uses of Constraint’. Paula’s session will begin with a short reading from her work, followed by a reflection on Auden’s famous statement: Poetry makes nothing happen. We will participate in a creative activity with the possibility of drafting a poem.

Bio:

Paula Cunningham was born in Omagh and lives in Belfast. Her pamphlet A Dog called Chance was a winner in The Poetry Business Competition. Paula’s book Heimlich's Manoeuvre was shortlisted for the Fenton-Aldeburgh, Seamus Heaney Centre, and Strong Shine First Collection Prizes. Paula’s poems have been widely anthologised in Ireland and beyond, appearing in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Vol. 5, d The New Irish Poets and Best British Poetry (201).  In 2011 she won the Hippocrates Poetry Prize (NHS section) and was shortlisted in the Edwin Morgan Prize. Paula has also written plays for Tinderbox and BBC Radio 4, and a short story appeared in Faber’s Best New Irish Short Stories 2004-5. In May 2019, Paula gave a poetry reading at the10th Hippocrates Conference on Poetry and Medicine and Hippocrates Awards, Newcastle, UK. Paula currently holds an award from the Arts Council of NI.

CONFERENCE DETAILS 

Venue:  Wellington Park Hotel, 21 Malone Rd, Belfast BT9 6RU

Date: Saturday 12^th October 2019

Fee :  €65  (IPTN & Lapidus members)        

          €85 Non-members (please note that if membership fees are paid at the same time as the conference fees, the lower rate will apply)

Membership fees: €15 due September
     
Fees payable in € to Irish Poetry Therapy Network

Conference fees and membership fees may be paid electronically.

Please put your name on the payment reference

Permanent TSB

Account number: 86899860

Sort code: 990643

IBAN: IE90IPBS99064386899860

Enquiries and cheques in € to:
Bernie Walsh, Treasurer IPTN,
60 Hazelwood, Gorey,
Co. Wexford,
Ireland.

Places are limited, so to ensure you will not be disappointed, please reserve your place by emailing  irishpoetrytherapynetwork@gmail.com

Meals available from the hotel

HOTEL  ACCOMMODATION

The hotel is holding some bedrooms available for conference delegates for 11/10/2019.  

The price per single is £75.00 B&B and double or twin will be £95.00

Guests can book their room by either calling or emailing reservations quoting block code IPTN111019. The hotel requires a credit or debit card from guests at the time of booking for guarantee.

Any rooms not booked from the allocation block by 13.09.19 will automatically be released – any booking after this date will be subject to availability.

https://www.wellingtonparkhotel.com/

IPTN AGM

IPTN's Annual General Meeting will be held in Dublin on Saturday 22nd June 2019 at 11am in the Spensor Hotel, on North Wall Quay.
A Peer Group session is planned for after the meeting.

All welcome to attend.

IPTN Journal vol 4 issue 1 Spring 2019