Amplify Voices
and Heal
with Words
For healthcare professionals, writers, and community advocates
Turn compassionate listening into a healing art
Join a dynamic five-week course that blends deep listening, reflective writing, and community engagement. You’ll be part of a small cohort of 6-10 participants – all drawn to the intersection of care, creativity, and change – learning and practicing together.
Upcoming cohort: Winter 2026
Winter 2026 Cohort • Live Online Course
Days and Times TBA
Final Practicum Celebration: TBA
Upcoming Dates
The Certified Listener Poet course is offered three times a year:
Fall – begins in September
Winter – begins in January
Summer – begins in June
We accept applications on a rolling basis, so if the current course dates don’t work for you, we encourage you to apply here and schedule your interview to start a conversation about upcoming dates that might be a better fit.
Want to learn more before applying?
Learn more about how this integrative approach to listening and creative expression can complement your work in healthcare, the arts, or community engagement.
Can’t find a time that works?
If you don’t see a time that fits your schedule, we’d love to connect and explore options.
About This Course
A Transformative Approach to Listening, Writing, and Care
Good listening can be life-changing in the healthcare industry. The techniques we teach our Listener Poets enable people to open up, reflect on their experiences, and feel the healing power of being heard.
Designed for professionals working in clinical, educational, and community-based settings, this course explores how poetic expression can enhance communication, foster psychological safety, support emotional well-being, and amplify voices through words that reflect, affirm, and heal. With explanations of the best practices we’ve developed, stories of specific interactions we’ve learned from, and plenty of guided exercises and live feedback, the Certified Listener Poet program will bring you deep into the art of good listening.
You’ll be applying for an in-depth online course with a certification opportunity at the end. You’ll have 32 total hours of virtual class time with a group of 6-10 colleagues, and an Independent Practicum where you will coordinate 6 Listener Poet sessions.
Whether you’re a clinician, caregiver, writer, educator, or community leader, this course offers a structured opportunity to deepen your listening practice and use language as a tool for affirmation, connection, and healing.
What You’ll Experience
5 Weeks of Live Online Learning
Engage in ten structured sessions over five weeks, with two 3-hour classes each week. Led by experienced instructors, this cohort-based learning experience includes guided reflection, live demonstrations, skill-building exercises, and peer feedback. Class size is limited to 6–10 participants to support an intimate, high-touch learning environment.
Practicum Component: Real-World Application & Original Poetic Portfolio
Following the core training, participants will complete a practicum in which they independently coordinate six one-on-one Listener Poet sessions. These real-world encounters provide the foundation for a final portfolio: a compelling, original collection of poems that demonstrates each participant’s ability to listen deeply, synthesize stories with care, and translate lived experience into meaningful poetic form. Participants receive individual feedback and mentorship throughout this process.
Certification Opportunity
Upon successful completion of the training and practicum requirements, participants may graduate as Certified Listener Poets and join The Good Listening Project’s international alumni network – opening pathways to future collaborations, community practice, and continued development.
Optional Graduate Credit
Participants may opt to earn 3 graduate-level credits through our academic partnership with Wilson College. See details below.
Why This Course Matters
Deep listening can be transformative – especially in healthcare. When individuals feel genuinely heard, they’re better able to process emotion, reconnect with their sense of purpose, and access their own inner resilience. Certified Listener Poets bring this restorative practice into clinical and community spaces, offering a humanizing presence within systems that too often overlook the emotional and narrative dimensions of care.
You’ll gain skills to:
Create trust and emotional safety, even in brief conversations
Listen with empathy, depth, and presence
Use silence as a meaningful part of communication
Craft personalized, powerful poems that reflect and honor others’ stories
Support emotional resilience and reduce feelings of isolation or burnout
Strengthen your voice as a creative, caregiver, leader, or advocate for change
Who This Is For
Participants come from a range of fields and life paths, including:
Nurses, physicians, and healthcare workers
Poets, writers, and artists seeking community impact
Therapists, chaplains, and social workers
Educators and public health professionals
Practitioners and students of Narrative Medicine
Veterans, caregivers, and organizers
If you care deeply about others, love poetry or creative expression, and want to listen in ways that matter – we’d love to meet you.
Tuition & Scholarships
Tuition is offered on a sliding scale to promote both accessibility and sustainability.
$4,100 Supporter Rate – helps fund another student
$3,100 Standard Rate – covers our course delivery costs
$1,750 Scholarship Rate – prioritized for low-income and historically underrepresented applicants
We accept professional development funds, and scholarships and payment plans are available – because we believe cost should never be a barrier to participation for those dedicated to bringing presence, compassion, and creativity into the spaces they serve.
Your tuition directly supports the facilitation of this course, making this co-creative learning experience possible and sustaining our mission to humanize healthcare through the healing power of poetry and compassionate presence.
Graduate-Level Credit Option
We’ve partnered with Wilson College to offer 3 graduate-level, transferable credits for students who complete the course and submit a successful portfolio.
Course credit: HUM 515: Poetics of Listening: Healthcare Writing
Credit fee: $710 (separate from tuition)
Eligibility: Must hold a Bachelor’s degree
If you’re currently an undergraduate, you may be able to pursue this as an independent study through your school.
After Certification
Your journey doesn’t end with the course. As a Certified Listener Poet, you’ll gain:
Access to our Community of Practice
Opportunities for contracted projects with The Good Listening Project
Listing on our website directory
Co-creation support for bringing this work to new communities
Ongoing mentorship and connection with alumni
We define healthcare broadly – from hospitals to healing circles – and we’re excited to grow this work together.
Application & Next Steps
Apply Now to join the next cohort
Schedule an Interview after submitting your application
Join an Info Session to ask questions and learn more
Meet 1-on-1 if you’d like a more personal conversation
Learn More About Our Work
Read Poems Created in Listener Sessions
Meet the Instructors
Meet the Guest Instructors
Meet the Alumni:
Community of Practice
Alumni Reflections
“I loved that this course fully engaged and supported the work I have been doing, reinforcing concepts, but also creating the space for community, support, encouragement, and discovery of self and others.
It has ben a complete pleasure to be in this cohort as a witness, participant, learner, and poet.”
“This was much more than educational. This was like a poetry workshop, meditation, therapy session, and roller coaster ride all in one. Unforgettable.”
“This is the best writing group I’ve ever been a part of. The authenticity. People. Creativity. Talent. Structure. Organization. The potential it has for growth and personal development. I’m incredibly glad I made this investment in myself.”
Why We Listen
The Good Listening Project (TGLP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to humanizing healthcare through the healing power of poetry and compassionate presence. We create spaces for deep listening and poetic reflection that foster connection, reduce burnout, and promote wellbeing for healthcare professionals, patients, and their communities.
The Good Listening Project was founded to restore humanity in healthcare and beyond. We believe in the power of poetry as a witness – to hold grief and hope, reveal meaning, and celebrate resilience.
Join us in cultivating a more human future, one conversation at a time.
Stay Connected
If you have questions or would like to learn more about the Certified Listener Poet course, please send us a message. We would love to hear about what draws you to this program and why you’d like to become a Listener Poet.