National Association for Poetry Therapy upcoming events

Our Relationship: What Makes Us, Us - Discovery & Exploration Through Poetry Therapy with Ellyn Zografi (30 Aug 2026)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 18:00:00 GMT

The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents

Our Relationship: What Makes Us, Us - Discovery & Exploration Through Poetry Therapy with Ellyn Zografi

Workshop Description:

Join us on Zoom for a unique experience of bringing your relationship into the curiosity and surprise of the Biblio-Poetry Process. Partner up with someone important to you. This includes any kind of relationship! Dyads may include romantic partners, creative partners, parent-child pairs, friendships, siblings, co-workers, and more. Collaboratively, you will discover aspects of who you are together. Through reading, reflecting, writing, and sharing, you will honor yourselves as individuals, that in turn fosters a relationship like no other: Yours! This session will be a celebration of how you have influenced and impacted each other in ways that you may already know, and also perhaps in ways that are a surprise to you. This workshop will include both working and sharing in your dyad as well as an option to share in the larger group. Hope you can join us!

Facilitator Bio:

In her total 19+ years working as both a social worker and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Ellyn Zografi has discovered writing to be a powerful means for healing and self-discovery. She has conducted writing workshops and provided writing prompts for clients, staff and family caregivers at a vocational agency for adults with developmental disabilities, part of a wilderness therapy program in Southern Utah as well as integrating into her clinical private practice specializing in Couples/Relationship Counseling. Ellyn is currently working towards a certification in Biblio/Poetry Therapy (CPT) under the supervision/mentorship of Geri Giebel Chavis.

Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026

Time: 2:00-3:30pm (EDT)

Venue: Zoom

Host: Ashley Schaaf ashley@poetrytherapy.org

Registration:

Members — $10

Non-Members — $25

* Funds from our virtual events support our conference scholarship fund. Please consider making an additional donation if you are able!

NAPT In Conversation with Margaret Bryden: A Bad Poet’s Guide to Mental Health & Resilience (12 Sep 2026)

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT

The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents

NAPT In Conversation with Margaret Bryden: A Bad Poet’s Guide to Mental Health & Resilience

Workshop Description:

NAPT’s In Conversation series presents dynamic dialogues with a wide variety of individuals who have been touched, in one way or another, by poetry, storytelling, journaling, literature, and other expressive language arts practices. This series seeks not only to share the wisdom of poetry therapy masters but to also create space for diverse folks to share about how poetry has functioned in their lives. We will explore first-person accounts of what poetry does. The interviews in this series will take place live on Zoom with time set aside for audience Q&A. They will also be recorded and made available online.

The next In Conversation event will feature Margaret Bryden on Saturday, September 12th, 1:00-2:00pm ET. She will speak about her new book, How I Understand It: A Bad Poet’s Guide to Mental Health & Resilience, which will be released on September 1, 2026. During the discussion, she will speak to how she has experienced the impact of poetry, both professionally and personally. She will read a few of her own poems and offer some favorite prompts for the audience to take with them.

Facilitator Bio:

Margaret Bryden, MBA, CMHC, is a therapist, author, and speaker who is passionate about making mental health more accessible. With degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, San Jose State University, and Westminster University, Margaret brings together expertise in psychology, business, and communication to make mental health concepts engaging and practical. She works in both private practice and psychiatric hospital settings, specializing in helping individuals and couples through trauma, addiction recovery, and life transitions. Her debut book, How I Understand It: A Bad Poet's Guide to Mental Health & Resilience, introduces the concept of "Bad Poetry"—a therapeutic tool to quiet the inner critic, deepen emotional awareness, and foster meaningful connection.

Date: Saturday, September 12, 2026

Time: 1:00pm - 2:00 pm (ET)

Venue: Zoom

Host: Ashley Schaaf ashley@poetrytherapy.org

Registration:

Members — free

Non-Members — $10

* Funds from our virtual events support our conference scholarship fund. Please consider adding a donation if you are able.

When Poems Come Alive facilitated by Dr. Magdalene Jeyarathnam (13 Sep 2026)

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 15:00:00 GMT

The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents

When Poems Come Alive

facilitated by Dr. Magdalene Jeyarathnam

Workshop Description:

This workshop is experiential and takes poetry and the poet off words and transforms it into action through psychodrama. Poems will be explored through roles, images, imagination, and encounters. We will engage with metaphors and inner experiences to explore how poems can transform into living experiences. The workshop is founded on creativity and spontaneity, the basic tenets of psychodrama. It offers a space for personal reflection, group process and shared human stories. Participants will experience how psychodrama can expand the therapeutic use of poetry by bringing poems into action, relationship, and embodied expression. No previous experience in psychodrama is required.

About the Facilitator:

Dr. Magdalene Jeyarathnam is an expressive arts therapist, psychodramatist, trainer, supervisor, and group psychotherapist from India with over 32 years of clinical and experiential practice. She is recognised as India’s first trained psychodramatist, trainer, and supervisor, and has worked with more than 15,000 individuals through therapy groups, workshops, training programmes, and community interventions. She started the first psychodrama training institute in India.

Her work integrates psychodrama, poetry, storytelling, movement, art, and other expressive arts approaches, with a strong focus on healing, spontaneity, creativity, and human connection. Magdalene has worked extensively with marginalized and vulnerable communities, while also training therapists, educators, students, and mental health professionals internationally. She worked as a WHO consultant to the South east Asian region for 3 years. She has conducted psychodrama workshops in approximately 14 countries. She is also a TEDx speaker.

Date: Sunday, September 13, 2026

Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm (EDT)

Venue: Zoom

Host: Yun-Jen Lin yunjen@poetrytherapy.org

Registration:

Members — $10

Non-Members — $25

* Funds from our virtual events support our conference scholarship fund.

2026 International Research Symposium (4 Dec 2026)

Fri, 04 Dec 2026 13:00:00 GMT

The National Association for Poetry Therapy Presents

2026 International Research Symposium

An International Research Symposium for Biblio/Poetry Therapy will be held virtually on December 4th, 2026, from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (EDT). This event will feature voices from across the world sharing their insights on Biblio/PoetryTherapy and its use in creating a global community. Together with representatives from European associations of poetry therapy, we'll be uniting with a shared purpose: the belief in the power of language, symbol, and story to heal and foster unity and community.

FREE - We will be hosting this event free and live for all. Recordings will be available for a limited time following the event and a Certificate of Attendance may be purchased for a fee. All participants must register to receive the zoom link.

PRESENTERS - WE ARE LOOKING FOR PRESENTERS. To be considered, submit resume/CV, abstract of four-five hundred words. Our theme is building a world community, and will focus on how bibliotherapy is used to bridge cultural gaps, highlight and affirm minority voices and cross cultures both locally and internationally to create healing. We ask that submissions stay closely tied to this theme. SUBMIT HERE: https://forms.gle/pngDh5pXXC9tRmPe6

Date: Friday, December 4, 2026

Time: 8:00am - 12:00am (EST)

Venue: Zoom

Host: Tim Kelly tim@poetrytherapy.org

Registration:

Members — free

Non-Members — free

* Any donations from our virtual events support our conference scholarship fund.