Editor’s Note

Editor's Note G roup process emerges as a common theme in our three feature articles. Linking Caroline Shrodes's (1949) model of bibliotherapy and Irvin Yalom's (1985) therapeutic factors in group therapy, Laura J. Cohen offers a theoretical framework of bibliotherapy that is based on reading as a group process phenomenon. Marion Goldstein (1989), in an earlier article (JPT, Vol. 2, No. 4) used Yalom's therapeutic factors as a framework to examine how poetic interventions affected the inpatient group therapy process. It appears that further research on the therapeutic value of the reading process and on the poetic process in group therapy is indicated. I call upon reading teachers and groupwork specialists to contribute to this research relating to poetry therapy. Charles Rossiter offers a "Therapeutic Behavior Scale" that has wide application in training and research. Particular attention is given to its use in poetry group therapy. This scale was developed at the Albany Training Program in Poetry Therapy, a program that is modeled after the Bibliotherapy Program at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. It is significant in that it provides another signal of the emergence and sophistication of poetry therapy practice and research. Karen Chase, a poet-in-residence at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, discusses the process and product of two-way collaborative poetry writing in a mental hospitaL Chase is also well aware of the interpersonal dynamics involved in writing collaborative poems: "Who takes the lead in the poem? Who pushes the language boundaries in one way or another? ... The boat gets rocked, risks get taken that upset the balance .... " The above articles represent the continued development of the theory and practice of using poetry and other literary forms in various treatment modalities. Cohen addresses theory building, Rossiter con71 Journal of Poetry Therapy VoL 3, No. 2, Winter 1989 © 1989 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 72 Journal of Poetry Therapy tributes to empirical practice, and Chase reaffrrms the power of creative expression. Literature, healing and social responsiveness are identified in Nancy Pate's briefreport on poetry and AIDS and in Charles Rossiter's book review of an anthology of women's poetry on breast cancer. The "Dissertation Abstracts" and "Journal File" columns including topics on self starvation in novels on women, Vietnam and prose writing, the use of writing and bibliotherapy with the elderly, and the place of literature with children and youth facing difficult issues, also address the merging of literary and psychosocial content. Please note that in this issue, Arthur Lerner's "Poetry Therapy Corner" provides us with a rich historical perspective on the development of poetry therapy. Lerner discusses Frederick Clarke Prescott's (1922) The Poetie Mind, connecting the literary and the psychological. In the next issue of the Journal of Poetry Therapy, he will examine Robert Haven Schauffier's (1925) The poetry eure: A poeket medieine ehest of verse. As we examine the interpersonal aspects ofpoetry and group therapy as weIl as the ramifications of integrating the poetic and major psychological and social issues, careful attention to the poetry in this issue is also warranted. Rosemary V. Klein's poem, "Slaves Or Free Words?" which includes the lines, "I want to say this. The words/ in this poem sit up politely/ with stiff regret. Their hands/ in their laps weigh heavily ... " and Arlene Bargad's poem, "Doubt" which includes the lines, "you keep affectionate distance./ Just enough to hold me/ forever uncertain," reminds us that our willingness to connect to each other and restore choice is in part, the poetry in therapy and the therapy of poetry. Poetry therapy clearly has a history, a network, and a bright future. Nieholas Mazza References Goldstein, M. (1989). Poetry and therapeutic factors in group therapy. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 4, 231-241. Prescott, F.C. (1922). The poetic mind. New York: Macmillan. Schauffier, R.H. (1925). The poetry eure: A poeket medieine ehest of verse. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. Shrodes, C. (1949). Bibliotherapy: A theoretieal and clinieal-experimental study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of California, Berkeley. Yalom, I.D. (1985). The theory and practice of group psyehotherapy (3rd ed.). New York: Basic.  (...truncated)