Experiences from biblio/poetry therapy groups for cancer patients and cancer care staff

How do we re-author our stories when illness interrupts the narrative of a life — and how can reading and writing together restore a sense of agency, identity, and connection?

This webinar presents current biblio/poetry therapy research and practice from two groups: the Italian-Finnish group Philosophical Biblio/Poetry Therapy for Flourishing and Social Resilience, which will present twice, and the Finnish Counter-Narratives of Cancer research group, which will present four times. The first part introduces philosophical biblio/poetry therapy, which draws on ancient and modern philosophical traditions and aims at eudaimonia (individual and collective flourishing) and agency. The second part provides an overview of current biblio/poetry therapy research and practice in Finland, focusing on participant-centred empirical projects with cancer patients and cancer care staff, including their research design, intervention processes, and findings.

What to Expect

• An introduction to philosophical biblio/poetry therapy and its pedagogical approach to narrative ethics
• An overview of three empirical biblio/poetry therapy group projects with cancer patients and healthcare professionals
• Reflection and discussion on applications in Arts and Health, Creative Arts Therapies, and psychosocial oncology

Learning Objectives

• Describe current biblio/poetry therapy research and practice in Finland
• Explain how philosophical biblio/poetry therapy promotes human flourishing (eudaimonia) and agency through reading
• Identify applications of biblio/poetry therapy groups for cancer patients and cancer care professionals
• Reflect on narrative agency and social resilience within Arts and Health practice

Who This Is For

Creative Arts Therapists, bibliotherapists, poets, psychologists, counsellors, nurses and healthcare professionals, educators, arts and health practitioners, students — and anyone interested in narrative, bibliotherapy, and the health humanities.

About the Curator and Presenters

Juhani Ihanus, PhD — (Curator) Associate Professor of Cultural Psychology at the University of Helsinki and Associate Professor of Art Education and Art Psychology at Aalto University, Finland. He is an internationally recognised scholar and writer who has pioneered the integration of cultural psychology, psychoanalysis, and the expressive arts.

Petra Partanen, MA — Poetry therapy instructor, philosophical practitioner, and PhD researcher in the field of writing at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her doctoral research examines the development of mothers’ narrative agency in bibliotherapeutic peer groups.

Irene Monge, MA — Philosopher of narration, university lecturer at the University of Verona, and psycho-pedagogical counsellor with over a decade of interdisciplinary experience, and a leader in community welfare and third-sector governance.

Päivi Kosonen, PhD — Trained biblio/poetry therapist and educator (Finnish Association for Biblio/Poetry Therapy), adjunct professor of comparative literature (University of Helsinki), and senior researcher at SELMA (University of Turku). She currently facilitates bibliotherapeutic groups for patients and medical staff in the University Hospitals of Turku and Helsinki.

Johanna Holopainen, PhD, RN — Trained biblio/poetry therapy instructor and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, studying the corporeality of cancer experiences and their generation in poetry therapy groups (Emil Aaltonen Foundation, 2025–2028).

Annamarja Lamminmäki, MD, PhD — Specialist in medical oncology, psychotherapist, and associate professor of palliative medicine at the University of Eastern Finland, bridging clinical practice and narrative, psychological, and expressive interventions in cancer care.

Eevastiina Kinnunen, MA — Doctoral researcher in comparative literature at the University of Turku and bibliotherapy facilitator, whose PhD focuses on reading groups, narrative agency, and narrative wellbeing (Emil Aaltonen Foundation).

Register Now

Free for IACAET Members  |  Non-members $18    •    Please use World Time Buddy to find your local time.