UCSF MERI Center Poetic Medicine
The UCSF MERI Center facilitates three different poetic medicine groups: Loss, Losing, & Loosening, Poetic Medicine for the Wounded Healer, and Food for Thought. Through these sessions we have created an amazing community that spans the globe. Take a peek:
- Food for Thought
- Loss, Losing, & Loosening
- Poetic Medicine for the Wounded Healer
- Poetic Medicine Anthologies
Food for Thought
Thursdays, 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM Pacific
Our first poetic medicine group which focuses on resilience.
YouTube Playlist
Weekly Prompts on Google Drive
Poetic Medicine for the Wounded Healer
2nd Wednesday of the month, 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Many of us, whether we identify as being in the “healing arts” or not, have wounds that we understand as the foundation of our own ability to heal and to have compassion for others. In these sessions, we will open to whatever it is we consider our own “wounded places” and allow our poem-making to be part of our healing process.
YouTube Playlist
Weekly Prompts on Google Drive
Loss, Losing, & Loosening
Tuesdsays, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific
This group focuses on grief and healing. Loss, Losing & Loosening was coined by Eric Poche.
Loss
Loss is an irrevocable event that includes:
Shock, Numbness
Inability to feel the pain
Denial
Determination to suppress the truth of your experience: It didn’t really happen.
Yearning
Denial of the permanence of the loss
Losing
Acknowledgement of the pain of the loss that includes:
Depression
Loss of appetite, loss of sleep, anxiety, self-doubt
Sorrow
Tears, withdrawal, overwhelming sadness, “This will never end”
Anger
“If only…;” “How could s/he leave me now;” The “if onlys”; the little angers
Disorganization
Inability to concentrate on usual tasks or responsibilities. Inability to act in meaningful ways; immobilization
Loosening
Integration of the loss in one’s life:
Adjustment to an environment where loss is a reality
Putting away the painful reminders
Emotionally relocating loss and moving on with one’s life
Gradually accepting the permanence of loss
A New Normality
Who am I now?
YouTube Playlist
Weekly Prompts on Google Drive
Poetic Medicine Anthologies
The Poems that Flow Through Us #1
The Poems that Flow Through Us #2
The Poems that Flow Through Us #3
The Poems that Flow Through Us #4
The Poems that Flow Through Us #5
If you would like hard copies of any of our anthologies, please make a donation of $25/copy and email us at [email protected] with your order and mailing address.