title: The efficacy of poetry therapy: a computerized content analysis of the death poetry of Emily Dickinson.
abstract: A computer content analysis of a representative sample of the death poetry of Emily Dickinson is examined in an attempt to identify its therapeutic efficacy. The findings suggest that its therapeutic value lies in an underlying theme that offers a coherent experience with death from which the reader can achieve a degree of mastery and control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Hawaii School of Medicine, Honolulu 96813.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porter
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death; D006801:Humans; D011037:Poetry as Topic; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D012660:Semantics; D012984:Software