The Talking Cure

Author(s):

Richard M. Berlin, MD

Key Takeaways

Jack Coulehan's poem "The Talking Cure" is featured in his new book, reflecting his medical and ethical background.
Coulehan, a retired physician, has contributed significantly to medical humanities through his seven poetry collections.
Richard Berlin, MD, has consistently shared his medical experiences through poetry in Psychiatric Times for over two decades.
Berlin's latest poetry collection, Tender Fences, continues his exploration of the intersection between medicine and poetry.

"They don't teach the talking treatment anymore..."

Any Good Poem

Richard Berlin, MD, shares the poem "The Talking Cure" by Jack Coulehan, the titular poem of Coulehan's new book The Talking Cure: New and Selected Poems. Before he retired, Coulehan practiced primary care medicine at Stony Brook University and directed the medical school's programs in ethics and humanities. He is the author of 7 collections of poetry.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 26 years in Psychiatric Times in a column called “Poetry of the Times.” He is instructor in psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. His latest book is Tender Fences.