Healing Words:
Poetry & Medicine
Filmed at a large teaching hospital in Florida, HEALING WORDS: POETRY & MEDICINE tells the stories of patients whose lives have been dramatically changed by the incorporation of poetry into their recovery process. Dr. John Graham-Pole and poetry therapist John Fox enter hospital rooms and help patients write poems as part of their healing process. This film shows viewers that compassion can flourish in the unlikeliest of places — a sterile hospital room. John Fox gently coaxes words from patients — many of whom have never written poetry before. The result is touching, poignant and always surprising. Poetry deepens their understanding of themselves and their illnesses, and, as the film shows, understanding is the key to healing.
At a time when Americans have grown cynical about health-care costs, impersonal treatment and the intrusion of corporate self-interest in the doctor-patient relationship, this film affirms that poetry and art can build understanding and compassion between doctor and patient and help facilitate healing among the most critically ill.
Underwriters:
The Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, LEAW Family Foundation, and Grand Marnier Foundation.
Producer: Healing Words Productions.
Format: CC Stereo
Contact:
Joan Baranow
Tel.: 415-336-1066
Email: info@healingwordsproductions.com
Oh, my. Watching this video changed my life.
What else need I say? Watch it if you need to be inspired and to have hope in what medical people can do when they allow the arts into hospitals.
Healing Words: Poetry and Medicine
This documentary is truly inspirational, often moving, as well as informative; it really demonstrates that art and poetry can and should be more widely recognize as effective components of the healing journey. The film also shows that poetry can build connectedness as it erases the barriers of roles between patients and physicians. Healing Words gives hope, that it’s possible for medical care institutions to shift from their cold and sterile atmosphere, to become more hospitable to the soul and to honor the strengths of the human spirit.