Poetry Therapy Circle
Navigating the Unknown
Welcome back to a new season of poetry in a community circle. Over the next eight sessions, we will explore navigating the uncertain times. These times require both courage and tenacity, and more importantly, someone to witness our strengths. In these sessions, we will write and read poems, we will reflect on how these intersect with the way we ground ourselves and find strength.
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time. See your time zone here.
Is my Archetype my Guide?
In this session, we’ll explore Jungian archetypes and how understanding your own archetype can guide you to meet life in a unique way. You’ll complete a quiz and receive your own card expanding on your gifts and an invitation.
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time.
Reclaiming Self/Love
We often think we are moving forward in a linear way, given our concept of time and space. However, much of our life is a returning, a reclaiming and a recognition of what we already are. Returning to a deeper self and the love that we already carry within us, will be the central theme of our exploration in this poetry circle.
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time.
To Find my Calling
In this session we’ll explore what calls us to live our most authentic lives. How do we listen to our deeper intuition that recognizes this calling, guiding us to accept this gift and what steps we may take to move in the direction that brings us home
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time.
In the Midst of Change
Welcome to 2027! A new year asks us for renewal, and in the midst of changes, we recognize that it is less a renewal, as it is a return to a clearer understanding of what we’ve been, and what we hope to become. Let’s come together an explore what is changing in your life, and how you are meeting that change.
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time.
During Dark Days
February brings darker and shorter days in the Northern Hemisphere, even as we look forward to longer and brighter days. In this session we’ll explore not just the external, but how we work within the shadows that sometimes dominate our days and what brings us into light.
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time.
Changing Time
Many of us move our clocks forward this month. As we do so, our circadian rhythm shifts causing some disorientation. It asks us to think: do we control time or does time control us? Does it even exist or in making it so, do we create something that now defines our days? In this Circle we will explore what parts of our lives move in this way, where we change space, time or structure.
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time.
Planting a New Garden
April arrives with a sense of emergence of life, a promise of light and growth. Those of us who experience this in the Northern Hemisphere, know that it takes time and patience to see it unfold. In this Circle, we’ll explore what parts of our lives we are patiently watching unfold.
No writing experience necessary. All our welcome to this open-hearted circle.
The cost for each session is US$30/CDN$40. For Poetry Therapy Practitioners (PTP) and trainees, the cost is US$10 (or pay-what-you-can). If you prefer PayPal, please use this link.
Matching scholarships are available, and there are many ways to access this Circle. Please indicate in the registration form, if you wish to attend on a scholarship.
All sessions will be on Saturdays from 10:30am-12:30pm Eastern time.
Through Storms & Songs
In this circle, we will look at what comforts us through storms in our life. And how we share this with others through our own writing and poems. What do storms reflect, and how do we hear music or make music through it all.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EDT (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Breath by Breath
In moments of extreme distress or difficulty in life, we need to return to the here and now. Each moment lived breath by breath. How do we connect with each other when we are in survival mode? In this circle, we will focus on poems that recognize that we have been doing our best and that we are still living with an open heart and compassion for the future.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EDT (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Climbing Hills & Crossing Valleys
This poetry circle is about exploring our accomplishments as we connect or dis/connect with others. Do we find it exhausting and depleting? Do we attend to our own nourishment? Does it feel like we have a constant Sisyphean task in front of us or do we rest and abide in the knowledge that we have everything we need internally? How do we walk ourselves home, even as we aim to walk each other home?
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Around Fences & Fortresses
As we begin the new year, we will come together in this circle to share how we view our journeys ahead. Are we building fences and fortresses to protect ourselves? If so, what are we gaining or losing in our connection to ourselves and the world to walk each other home.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Finding Anchor, Sail & Lifeboat
All our lives, we look for ways to ground ourselves, find balance in the changing winds, and a stability when we feel overwhelmed. In this circle, we will explore all the ways we meet these challenges, through changing seasons. We will close the year with our own clarity and compassion in being there for ourselves.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Between Bridges & Boundaries
No matter how much we intellectually know about building stronger bridges and to know where those boundaries lie, we find it hard to put it in practice. Being true to ourselves and listening to our innate needs, helps us see with more clarity. In this session we will explore when we are at crossroads, how do we walk across existing bridges, when do we need to build stronger ones and when do we need boundaries.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Over a Rocky Terrain
In this session we will explore what it means to be there for each other as a community of poets and writers. The 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz, wrote these lines in his poem “A great need”: "Out of a great need we are all holding hands and climbing. Not loving is a letting go. Listen, the terrain around here is far too dangerous for that." How do we balance deepening connection with our selves and the world, where we feel safe and ready to live with love and self/compassion?
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EDT (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Walking Each Other Home: A Cluster of Stars
Welcome to a new series of Poetry Circles, on the theme of Ram Dass’s words “Walking Each Other Home”. Knowing that we are connected to each other, we still increasingly feel alone. We will come together in this virtual circle to explore our heart-connectedness through poems, and recognize that as poets, writers and witnesses to life, we have a role to play in how we live each day.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EDT (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Writing a World into Being
April is National Poetry Month. As poets, we have a unique view of the world, and the ability to write about it. What worlds do we create when we do so? What perspectives do we bring into the world that never existed before we wrote it down? In this session we will share what courage it takes to create new worlds. As Lisel Mueller writes in her poem “The Exhibit": “This world/this terrible world we live in/is not the only possible one”.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Poetry of Witness
When spring arrives, we are compelled to see the world in a novel way. It’s not because we have forgotten what the world looked like, but that we (those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), are just starting to process and view our world thawing after a deep, dark winter. In this session we will explore what we witness during this time and what it means to write witness poetry.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Storms that Sing
When we look back at what obstacles we have encountered in our lives, the mountain peaks we have scaled, we find we need a way to write it down. What poems, stories, songs or dances emerge from that realization? In this session, we will explore and celebrate our moments, and how we showed up to meet them.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Writing our Way to a New Beginning
We begin 2025 by honouring our being, and our unique perspectives. We will explore in this session, what permissions we need, and what we can offer ourselves to recognize the peace and happiness that is accessible to us at all times.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Dis/Connections
We recognize that our connections and bonds ensure our wellbeing, and we often find that when we feel disconnected we feel deeply lonely. In this session, we will explore the wisdom of these connections and disconnections, and see what they mean to each of us as we close 2024.
PTP Celebration for Lisa Marie Brodsky Auter will be held from 1:00-1:30pm.
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee for poetry circle only: US/CDN$15. Please pay in advance through PayPal.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Embracing all Emotions
We are often challenged by the range of emotions at various stages of our experiences in life. We tend to identify them as “good” or “bad” and consequently want to accept or resist them. In this session, we will explore what it means to make these emotions visible for ourselves and what transforms in our experience, when we are willing to do see them more closely.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Your Heart Center
My heart is so small
it's almost invisible.
How can You place
such big sorrows in it?
"Look," He answered,
"your eyes are even smaller,
yet they behold the world.” ― Rumi
In this session we will explore what tugs at our heartstrings and how we can be guided by it. During difficult times, how do we find peace and a restful, content, heart-space?
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Finding Inner Peace
Deep down, in the center of all of us, there’s light that shows up sometimes in embers, sometimes as fire. What fuels it? What dims it? What remains unchanged? Over the course of the next eight months, we will explore together, how we arrive at the peace of gentle light that guides us, remains steady in the difficulties of life.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Poetic Selfies (Pt. 2)
We will dedicate two sessions to “poems as portraits”, how we can explore ourselves, the image of ourselves, words of ourselves and how we do the same with others.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Poetic Selfies (Pt. 1)
We will dedicate two sessions to “poems as portraits”, how we can explore ourselves, the image of ourselves, words of ourselves and how we do the same with others.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Perhaps…
Perhappes/Perhappons meaning "possibly, by chance", allows us to explore what conditions make things possible. In this circle, we will explore the moments we arrived at that surprised us, and how they connected us to our self or to others.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Being & Doing
As we enter 2024, we will look closely at how we honour what we are and what we do. In a world that recognizes results and accomplishments, what yardstick do we use for our own worth? Does this help us connect or disconnect from others?
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Dis/Connected
What connects us to others and when do we feel most disconnected from ourselves and the world around us? Holidays and end of the year celebrations bring these questions to the fore, and in this circle, we will welcome your thoughts, poems, and words as we reflect on our journey this year.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30/CDN$40. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Self/Centred
What do we mean when we say we need to centre or ground ourselves? Where are we in our connection with others when we are centred in our “self”? In this circle, we will explore how we move between these spaces especially in what life offers us each day, and how we use words and the power of poems to understand it all.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Oneness & Otherness
In this circle, we will continue the theme of self and the other, as we explore the edges of our being and multitudes we carry within ourselves. Where do we place our emotions and what role do words and poems play in helping us explore our oneness and our otherness.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Relationships: With Self & Others
Welcome to a new circle with a theme that was preferred by many of you who have attended these sessions in the last few years.
We will begin by welcoming everyone to the circle with a sub-theme of “Perhaps" which is derived from the word Perhappons "possibly, by chance" recorded from late 15c. Perhaps we will find that we can fully embrace our selves and others. Perhaps we will find that we cannot. Perhaps we will find that we are okay in this relationship.
Wherever you are and whatever you want to explore, we will welcome your presence, thoughts, perspectives, writing and sharing. I can’t wait to begin again.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
See-Saws and Spring(s)
We are always drawn to stability and consistency. We think of it as a marker of stability, good health and success. As Mary Oliver says “whoever made music of a mild day?”, it takes wild, unpredictable, unsteady moments in life for transformation to happen.
In this session we will explore how poetry helps us through these moments that we struggle so much in, find ourselves in pain and resistance, and how we can trust ourselves and the life around us.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Shades & Shadows
There are times when in our own search for the truth and the expression of it, we are faced with aspects of this truth that scare us.
Honouring our continued theme of “Radical Acceptance” we will explore how these shadows are still colours that have many different shades; still shining with the light of our being. Come join us for this light-filled expression.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Awe/some Words
No matter how difficult life’s journey may be, there are times when, as poets, we stand in awe of life. Our search for, and need to express, our understanding of life’s difficulties with its joys is one of the hallmarks of poetry.
We all share this recognition together in our circle. We’ll explore how we express it in words, and why we stumble when we do, to not be able to quite find the words. Come join us for this deep exploration.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Ebb and Flow (Part II)
We all hear how we need to embrace life as it ebbs and flows. We find ourselves writing poems that attune us to the finer moments when these shifts in life happen.
In this session we’ll explore this process of opening ourselves more bravely to life’s moments, by writing reading and listening deeply to ourselves and others. What poems come to you at this time? Which poems help you heal? Come join us and bring your own wisdom and light to this circle.
Time: 10:30am-12:00pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
Ebb and Flow
We all hear how we need to embrace life as it ebbs and flows. We find ourselves writing poems that attune us to the finer moments when these shifts in life happen.
In this session we’ll explore this process of opening ourselves more bravely to life’s moments, by writing reading and listening deeply to ourselves and others. What poems come to you at this time? Which poems help you heal? Come join us and bring your own wisdom and light to this circle.
Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.
The Willingness to See/k (Part II)
As we explore self acceptance more deeply, through poetry, we often find that it requires both a deeper hunger for the truth, and the willingness to witness our selves in all its facets, emotion and yes, even thoughts.
In this session we’ll explore this willingness to see ourselves more closely and when we shine a light on it, whether we can witness what we seek as well. As Rumi says “What you seek is seeking you”.
Time: 1:00pm-2:30pm EST (Time Zone converter)
Fee: US$30. Register through the link below and you will receive a PayPal request for payment.
* Please know that this circle of exploration welcomes you regardless of your financial situation. For those who are unable to pay the fee, please select “Scholarship” option in the registration form.