A Poem to Memorialize an Experiential Focal Group1

Abstract

Thirteen women enrolled in a master's level group therapy class participated in an experiential focal group culminating in the writing of a poem. The poem was part of the framework developed by the students to evaluate an in-class personal and professional growth experience. The poem provided greater meaning to the participants than a mere letter grade assigned by the professor for class participation alone. The emotional intensity created through class participation in a group therapy class lends itself to memorializing a deeply shared temporal experience in a form of expression that is apposite to a poem.