If you were to hear me talk with youth in The Poetry LAB you would know how I need them, this work.
If you were to see me sitting in front of my computer, typing their poems and editing their recordings, long into the evening hours, then you would know how I am changed by them, their stories.
A 16-year-old girl who acts like she doesn't care, volunteers to read her poem, and lets loose her story of rape, leaving a long line of silence in her wake.
Wow. Powerful, I say.
Have you told anyone this before?
No, she says, through her hard shell, now cracked. I'm over it. Because of poetry, I can let it go.
Because of poetry, people can know now.
Because of poetry, I can begin to trust.
Because of poetry, I can tell my truth to you.
Drop by any day next week and discover them, fiercely pulling stories from their backpacks, notebooks holding truths screaming to be heard.
Drop by any day next week.
I'll be there, writing poems with kids. I'll let you witness transformation, Theirs, and my own. — The Work poem by Mary Tinucci, The Poetry LAB founder
Valeria interviews Mary Tinucci the author of A Daily Gratitude Journal: Think in Possibilities
Mary Tinucci is a clinical social worker in St. Paul, MN. During her 24-year career in St. Paul Public Schools (1991-2015), her individual and group work practice focused on youth in special education who struggled with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD); lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, staff and families; youth in foster care, and middle school youth struggling with depression.
During her 24-year career in Saint Paul Public Schools, Dr. Tinucci was an innovator, initiating and designing programs to serve the most marginalized students. In 1994, she designed and implemented Out For Equity, the third district-wide school-based LGBTQ program in the country. This program continues today, serving the needs of LGBTQ youth & adults in St. Paul Public Schools. In 2004, she created The Poetry LAB, (later known as The LAB) an arts and wellness-based special education program for youth with emotional/behavioral disorders. This program employed the therapeutic use of spoken word/poetry, visual art, music and experiential wellness with at-risk youth.
From 2003 - 2018, Dr. Tinucci was also an adjunct faculty member in the School of Social Work at St. Catherine University and University of St. Thomas (SCU/UST). Since May of 2018, Dr. Tinucci has been teaching full-time as a Core Faculty member in the Barbara Solomon School of Social Work at Walden University.
Through her private practice, Think In Possibilities, she provides clinical supervision for social workers pursuing next-level social work licensure and facilitates Writing Circles/Support Groups. She also provides training, strategic planning support, team meeting facilitation, and consultation for school staff, teachers, social service providers, and mental health workers on topics relevant to social work practice including: LGBTQ youth and school issues, educational stability for youth in foster care, and the therapeutic use of poetry and creativity as a tool of mental health for youth and adults.
To learn more about Mary Tinucci please visit her website: www.thinkinpossibilities.com
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Podcast Page: https://fitforjoy.org/podcast
— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.
** Bio intro and outro one by Heidi Lynn Peters.