“Through writing I find the significance of an experience – in the past or in the present. I find clarity and peace.”
—Participant
“Your sessions are very meaningful, sensitive and well thought out. As a result of these weeks, I feel more connected with myself, and those closest to me. Thank you for giving my voice a platform.”
—Participant
“Your style of presenting writing and healing ideas was effective and powerful while being subtle and relaxing.”
—Participant
“I’ve been taking writing workshops of every kind for over 20 years and this one ranks way up at the top for the depth and eloquence it gave birth to not only in me but in all of us.”
—Participant
Author photo © Mary Dineen
Education
- MEd from Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University.
- MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, with a Critical Thesis: Writing and Healing.
- Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Lesley University: Expressive Therapies with concentration in Writing.
Teaching and Workshops
- 1999–present: Writing and Healing workshops for cancer survivors privately and at Mount Auburn Hospital, The Mind Body Clinic, Beth Israel, Deaconess; The Wellness Community, The Virginia Thurston Healing Gardens, and workshops for The Institute for Body, Mind and Spirituality at Lesley University, as a Fellow.
- In 1999, began work with Expressive Therapists to bring the arts as support to cancer survivors. Participated in seven pilot studies and one feasibility study at the Wellness Center (now called Facing Cancer Together) and The Healing Garden, Harvard, MA. A journal article emerged from this work.
- 2003–2011: created and taught Principles and Practices of Writing as a Therapeutic Modality at Lesley University’s Graduate School of Expressive Therapies.
- 2008–2009: led workshops for Children’s Hospital nurses and Dana Farber employees at Children’s Hospital.
Publications
- Guest Blogger. Lahey Clinic Blog Site for Family of Cancer Survivors, 2010.
- “Walking through the Storm,” A Humankind Audio Presentation about what cancer survivors can teach us. Spoke on writing, 2007.
- “Focusing and Expressive arts Therapy as a Complementary Treatment for Women with Breast Cancer.” One of the authors in Journal Creativity and Mental Health. Summer 2005.
- Essays: “Cancer Says” in Living On the Margins: Women Writers on Breast Cancer (Raz, 1999), “Transformational Power of Stories: Hearing Another’s Truth Helps Me Understand Mine,” in Educators, Therapists, Artists on Reflective Practice (Byers, Forinash, 2004).
- Commentaries on NPR; Morning Stories on WGBH.
- Poetry in Poesis, an international arts journal, 2009.
