Conference to explore use of literature for health and well-being
Speakers from the University of Aberdeen and further afield will take part in a one-day training conference for professional writers, health and social care workers, and the general public. The conference Developing Dreams: Growing after Grief will be held at the Arts Centre, King Street, Aberdeen, Saturday 1 June (10am - 5pm). The conference is open to anyone interested in the use of literary arts for personal development, healing and well-being and places are still available.
The conference will explore a framework for grieving and overcoming shattered dreams. Reading, writing poems and stories will be central to the talks and workshops. Musical, psychological and spiritual resources will also be identified as aids to hope and healing after loss. Commenting on the event, John Easton, event organiser, said, "it promises to be an exciting and enriching occasion".
The main speaker will be Ted Bowman, a leading counsellor in grief and a trainer with the National Association for Poetry Therapy. Mr Bowman will be joined by seven other speakers, most of whom are from the North-east. Sheena Blackhall, Creative Writing Fellow in Scots at the University's Elphinstone Institute, will speak on 'An Outing for Sadness', to include music as well as an interactive writing session. Colin Macduff and Andrew McKie will talk on 'Poetry in Hospitals and Mental Health Issues in Literature' with further opportunity to write. Gerard Rochford follows, with a session about 'Poetry and Loss' at the same time there will be poetry and movement with Larry Butler's 'Writing from your Body'. The poet John Glenday ends the talks with a workshop entitled "The Present Tense - a Workshop of Poetry and Memory".
The conference is presented by Lapidus Scotland and supported by Castlegate Arts. Lapidus is a growing organisation, with a membership including writers, medical and healthcare professionals, therapists, teachers, writers in residence in healthcare and community settings, and those having a general interest in writing for personal development, health and well-being.