I founded Story Remedy as an intentional space to share stories — our own and others — and to engage in a passionate way with my deep rooted belief that art and activism must go hand in hand, that reading can be an act of resistance, and that writing is witnessing.
Story Remedy offers workshops and individual sessions for people looking to incorporate writing into their daily lives.
Story Remedy uses reading and expressive writing as spiritual and therapeutic practices to address trauma, grief and loss, pain and illness, aging and end of life review, etc.
Story Remedy combines my love of reading with my chaplaincy training. Poetry Therapy (bibliotherapy) is a healing module that has been used since World War I, and is experiencing a re-birth. More and more counselors are recognizing the healing power of words, and how transformative the experiences of reading and writing can be. Literature has often been turned to in times of moral/spiritual and physical crisis. Using literature as a therapeutic healing tool has been proven to give people strength when they are facing difficult circumstances.
Bibliotherapy can foster greater self-compassion and acceptance. It can also teach us, as Victor Frankl so eloquently put it, that “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” My use of bibliotherapy in spiritual counseling addresses our ability to navigate through some of the key issues of our lives – including loss and grief.
Bibliotherapy can deepen and intensify our being able to gain some clarity with regard to the ultimate meaning of our lives. I love that bibliotherapy can be a means of helping people probe such issues with the guidance of a facilitator and the choice of an appropriate text. My group workshops and individual sessions all draw on outside texts, as well as clients’ own writing, including journaling, reflections, and creative writing. In addition to my curiosity about the intentional act of reading, I focus on how the act of writing can be its own meditative and mindfulness practice.
Source: Frankl, Victor. Man’s Search for Meaning. New York: Penguin Random House, 2006.
about rachel
Rachel is a certified poetry therapy facilitator (CAPF) and has her Masters in Literature from the University of Colorado. She completed two units of clinical pastoral education (CPE), interning at Boulder Community Hospital and Jewish Family Service, where she witnessed the spiritual healing power of words and learned how to share that with others. Rachel works in private sessions and conducts group workshops, including an ongoing “What’s Your Story?” workshop at a women’s prison; expressive writing workshops with a vets’ group; and a women’s writing group. She also worked for many years as the director and owner of a foster care agency, where she designed a bibliotherapy program for parents and children. Rachel offers a safe and supportive environment in which to explore inner conflicts and worries so you can release them, express withheld emotions, and open avenues to creativity and empowerment.