By Geva Thole, Listener Poet & CLP Alum Cohort 7
Patients in Emplify Health’s Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit are often there because they’ve lost touch with themselves. Some need to reconnect with their values. Others are trying to forgive themselves or contend with a difficult diagnosis. No matter the issue, participating in a Listener Poet session has shown to be helpful.
Image Credit: Sue Lichtenstein
I’m honored to be able to bring this service to the patients I work with. My training as a Listener Poet makes me a better Behavioral Health Specialist because I’ve improved my ability to listen to understand. My attentiveness offers patients time to talk without judgment, a solution being presented, or pressure to say what they think someone wants to hear.
I provide patients the opportunity to tell me about anything that’s on their minds. Most want to talk about the issue that brought them to the hospital because they feel the poetry session can be an effective way to process it. Other patients want to share a fun or future-oriented story because, as one patient said, “I’m tired of talking about my problems all day.” This specific patient told me about their dream to open a bakery.
Preheat your mind to prepare for dreams and opportunities.
Blend a one way ticket to the United Kingdom with a longing to attend culinary school.
Combine love and recipes for Italian breads, French pastries and perfect pie crusts with a desire to give joy to others.
Rarely has a poem been given when it hasn’t moved the patient to tears. A female patient was missing her one year old son after a week-long stay on the unit. She shared the story of his birth with me because she wanted to be reminded of why she was working so hard to overcome her depression. “This is the most beautiful gift you could have given me,” she said when the poem was presented to her.
They call it the Golden Hour.
His skin smooth as satin,
touching mine
for the first time.
He was perfect,
like the light of the dying day,
like dusk.
Holding him I remembered
how I always wanted
to be a mom…
Leaving the hospital with a poem is a special gift I’m able to offer those we serve. I appreciate being able to incorporate what I learned from my Listener Poet course into other areas of my life. After all, there is never a wrong time or place to listen.