Breast Cancer Survivors’ Experiences in the Writing and the Poetry Therapy Group Process

Abstract

This conference paper describes what kind of encounters the breast cancer writing group offered to its participants and how they found paths to cope with their experiences of breast cancer by writing and sharing them in a poetry therapeutic setting.

The paper is based on my dissertation entitled Writing about Breast Cancer Experiences: A Study of The Poetry Therapy Process and Its Meanings. The study setting was empirical and I explored the poetry therapy group process and participants’ writings about breast cancer experiences. I gathered data from the group that I led and I used poetry therapy methods to address cancer-related experiences. The data consists of interviews, writings produced during group meetings, and questionnaires about the therapeutic writing process. I analyzed participants’ experiences of the group by using phenomenography. I employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyze participants’ writings.

The results show that participants found the group atmosphere enabled them to express their emotions and discuss them, as well as their experiences. They felt understood and supported, and they supported others. The writings they produced at the meetings revealed how breast cancer had affected their lives in physical, psychological and social contexts, and how they had coped and moved forward.

In conclusion I illustrated the poetry therapy group process, and suggested that writing and using the poetry therapy methods could be useful for coping with breast cancer experiences. Developing and organizing poetry therapy groups for breast cancer/cancer survivors could be an effective way to support their rehabilitation and increase psychosocial support.