Welcome to the Creative Righting Center
Creative "Righting" is not just a catchy phrase. It suggests balancing or centering oneself. Many people lose their balance when overwhelmed with fear, pain, sorrow, anger, even joy! Writing can be a way of straightening out emotional knots, a way of achieving balance in our lives so that a sense of well-being emerges. Creative "righting" may be expressive or prescriptive. When we write, we express ourselves. When we read, we benefit from poetic medicine. We are in touch with Rumi, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and some of the greatest souls who have ever lived. We can benefit from their wisdom and strength.Within each of us there exists a "self-righting" mechanism. Just as surely as a plant will turn towards the light, our creative imagination helps us to recreate ourselves. The tree of Life is the time-honored symbol for The Creative "Righting" Center. Its roots anchor the tree to its home and access nutrients, its spine sustains us, its branches reach out in a supportive network, and its leaves are the creative blossoms of our lives.
What services are provided by The Creative "Righting" Center?
1) A comprehensive training program in poetry therapy in accordance with the guidelines of the National Federation for Biblio/ Poetry Therapy. Please see our Training Options page for more information2) Traditional and creative therapy methods for individuals and groups
3) Consulting, lectures and workshops for agencies and staff training
4) Poetry-Behind-Bars - A unique long distance training program for maximum security prisoners at Indiana State Prison facilitated by poetry-therapists-in-training with group supervision. Hours count toward credentialing.
5) Long Distance Counseling through writing via phone and e-mail. Yes, it works!
6) Blog featuring nuggets of poetic wisdom, and additional resources.
About Sherry Reiter
Sherry Reiter, PhD, is a creative arts therapist and licensed clinical social worker. She is a Poetry Therapist/ Mentor-Supervisor (PTR/MS) as designated by the National Association for Poetry Therapy (NAPT) and Registered Drama Therapist/Board Certified Trainer (RDT/BCT) as designated by the National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT). A staunch believer in the creative arts for well-being, Sherry served on the steering committee for both organizations and is past president of both NAPT and the National Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy. In 1984, Sherry received the Outstanding Achievement Award for her pioneering work in creating professional standards in the field. She also received the 2002 NAPT Distinguished Service Award and 2005 Art Lerner Pioneer Award for her visionary work in poetry therapy. In 2007, she was recipient of the Morris Morrison Education Award for excellence in teaching and bringing poetry to marginalized populations. In 2009, Touro College honored Sherry as Instructor of the Year.Sherry divides her time between private practice, writing, and teaching at Touro College. As a consultant to the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, she has been a popular lecturer and workshop leader. Sherry is co-author of Twice Chai: A Jewish Road to Recovery. She has also been featured on the FOX News Channel as an expert on poetry therapy. Her most recent work is Writing Away the Demons; Stories of Creative Coping Through Transformative Writing(North Star Press, 2009). This book is a primer of poetry therapy featuring the stories of clients, students, and colleagues who have written their way through crisis.
Sherry has been teaching poetry therapy to professionals since l978 when she began teaching poetry therapy with psychiatrist Dr. Jack Leedy at The New School for Social Research. She continues to teach poetry therapy and drama therapy at Hofstra University. With her trainees, Dr. Reiter currently facilitates a long distance writing program called Poetry Behind Bars for inmates of the Indiana State Maximum Security Prison. At the heart of the work, to quote Marianne Moore, "one discovers that there is in it, after all, a place for the genuine." One of Sherry's greatest delights is helping people to discover the poetry and genuine self-expression that lives within them.
About Transformative Writing
Transformative Writing is the intentional use of writing for psychological change and well-being. As Shaun McNiff, a leading scholar on the expressive arts, says, “Words become agents of transformation, shamanic horses that carry expression and transport people to change.” Transformative writing also goes by these names: “writing therapy,” “poetry therapy,” “bibliotherapy,” and “journal therapy.”Learn More About Transformative Writing >>
