Poetry therapy for adults with developmental disabilities

Bibliotherapy and its subset, poetry therapy, have enjoyed a rich and promising history. Research on these therapies has demonstrated various treatment gains with diverse populations. Behavior therapy is the predominant approach for working with adults with developmental disabilities, though it enjoys limited success. Poetry therapy, which fosters client voice, the opportunity to represent and express one's own thoughts and feelings, has not been a focus of current practices in the field of developmental disabilities. This study examined the effectiveness of poetry therapy with adults with mild or moderate mental retardation. Twenty-four subjects were randomly assigned to two treatment groups that immediately participated in poetry therapy and two control wait-list groups. All participants completed self-report assessment measures before the treatment groups began, and again after 3 months of poetry therapy which consisted of 12 one-hour sessions. The effectiveness of poetry therapy was assessed using measures on psychopathology, self-esteem, and interpersonal problems. Repeated measures ANOVAs and t-tests were conducted to analyze the data. There was a significant decrease in distress associated with psychopathology, a significant decrease in interpersonal problems, and a significant increase in self-esteem. The results of this study may inform professional counselors in identifying an alternative therapy for working with adults with developmental disabilities.