Cross Cultural Poetry Therapy Class

Type of Abstract (select): Paper presentation

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The course design draws on Hungarian poets such as Attila József and Miklós Radnóti, whose works address themes of war, displacement, and social upheaval, alongside American poets like Maya Angelou and Robert Frost, whose writings explore personal trauma, civil rights, and resilience. The class engages students in reading, analyzing, and creating poetry, equipping them with tools to facilitate emotional expression and reflection in clinical and community settings. Key techniques include the therapeutic use of bilingual poetry, identity-focused writing exercises, and trauma-informed approaches to facilitating poetry sessions. By juxtaposing Hungarian and American literary traditions, the course encourages students to embrace cultural diversity in their therapeutic practice and enhances their ability to work with clients from varied backgrounds, including refugees and immigrants. This presentation will share the course outline, key activities, and reflections on the benefits of incorporating poetry from different cultural traditions into social work education. It will highlight the potential of poetry therapy to promote healing and cross-cultural understanding in therapeutic settings.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Tomi Gomory (PhD, Berkeley, 1998, MSW, 1984) is an Associate Professor at the College of Social Work, Florida State University. He has been a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pécs. His primary research interests are homelessness, mental health, evaluation of practice, and social work education. He has published extensively on issues related to mental health treatment and evaluation, homelessness, social work education and evidence-based practice. He co-wrote Mad Science: Psychiatric Coercion, Diagnosis, and Drugs in America, published by Routledge in 2015. He teaches, psychopathology, human sexuality, evaluation of practice, clinical practice and poetry therapy.