With life as my teacher, I have come to know that everybody has a story to be told, honored, and healed, because we all have something from which to recover. Ever curious to learn more, I returned to school to study the formal practice of Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. It’s been a journey back to myself: to name and become more fluent with the work I had intuitively already been doing. Stitching stories, and pulling narrative threads in the space between the artist and the yoga studio.
What Is Narrative Medicine?
Narrative Medicine holds the space to experience stories of pain and illness in purposeful ways. Drawing upon the study of art & literature, Narrative Medicine allows creativity to become a channel and a clearing: one that acknowledges that every patient has a story beyond the symptoms they bring into the doctor’s office. Through close reading and reflective writing exercises, we learn to listen attentively and generously ~ not just to the narratives of others, but to our own narratives and biases as well. As a field of study, Narrative Medicine proposes that the goals of health care include social justice, recognition of the whole persons who care and are cared for, and the development of trust and self-discovery within committed clinical relationships, for we may not be able to change the story, but we can change our relationship to our stories. Learn more
Interested in learning more about working together privately, or creating a workshop for your healthcare group’s specific needs?
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS:
April 22, 2023 Sharing Sensitive Stories Online: Interdisciplinary Arts + Abortion
VOLVOX: Making Narrative Medicine Happen, Columbia University