Cultivating Empathy: A Mindfulness and Creative Writing Workshop Framework
Journal article
Tugyan, S. A. S and Garip, G. 2025. Cultivating Empathy: A Mindfulness and Creative Writing Workshop Framework. Journal of Poetry Therapy.
| Authors | Tugyan, S. A. S and Garip, G. |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Empathy is essential for fostering healthy relationships and social harmony. This practice-based brief report details the conceptual framework of a workshop for cultivating empathy through mindfulness exercises and creative writing (CW) activities. The workshop created a safe-space for participants to choose topics that had personal relevance that took inspiration from their own experiences of unfairness and discrimination, writing from both the perspective of the person treated unfairly (CW-activity-1), and the perpetrator of the unfair treatment (CW-activity-2). Before each CW activity, participants were guided through a mindfulness-based meditation. A pre and post-workshop survey using the Basic Empathy Scale was used to evaluate changes in 14 participants’ empathy. There was a mean difference of 3.93 (SD=3.36) points suggesting an improvement from baseline compared to post-workshop scores, t(13) = 3.68, p< .05. Recommendations for facilitators and practitioners designing empathy-enhancing programmes are presented. |
| Keywords | creative writing; empathy; meditation; perspective-taking |
| Year | 2025 |
| Journal | Journal of Poetry Therapy |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis Online |
| ISSN | 0889-3675 |
| Web address (URL) | https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/tjpt20/about-this-journal |
| Accepted author manuscript | License File Access Level Restricted |
| Output status | In press |
| Publication dates | |
| Online | 03 Nov 2025 |
| Publication process dates | |
| Accepted | 27 Oct 2025 |
| Deposited | 27 Oct 2025 |
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