Joy Roulier Sawyer
Joy Roulier Sawyer is a nonfiction author and poet who believes in creating hospitable and inspiring spaces in
workshops, classes, therapy groups, coaching settings, spiritual gatherings, and more. Her passion for seeing people thrive and flourish led her to become a licensed professional counselor in 1996, then later a trained clinical poetry therapist and mentor/supervisor.
Joy was supervised for five years by Kathleen Adams, director of the Center for Journal Therapy, and together they offered poetry/journal therapy retreats and trainings for several years. For more than a decade, Kathleen and Joy co-taught writing and healing courses
in the Masters of Liberal Studies department at the University of
Denver.
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Joy has also taught in Goddard College's MA program in Transformative Language Arts, which Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg founded and developed, as well as facilitation classes through the Transformative Language Network.
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For her longtime work in the field, Joy was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for Poetry Therapy. She was also selected to revise and update the third edition of a seminal writing and healing textbook, Biblio/Poetry Therapy: The Interactive Process, by Arleen McCarty Hynes and Mary Hynes-Berry. She currently serves on the editorial board for the The Journal of Poetry Therapy.
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Joy's transformative arts experience includes leading creative writing workshops and university classes, as well as coaching, groups for counseling centers, children, at-risk youth, women's issues, poetry/journal therapy, Alzheimer's patients, those experiencing homelessness and poverty, women transitioning out of incarceration and prostitution, spiritual growth, and more. She is also an experienced facilitator of writing, church, and women's retreats.
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Joy also enjoys collaborations, and along with her work with Caryn for The Art of Facilitation, she co-founded Replenish with writer/musician Jane Thatcher and author/anthropologist Gina Bria. Replenish offers creative, writing, and wellness workshops and retreats: www.createandreplenish.com. Joy is also a jewelry designer, and co-created Point of Hue Arts. You can find her Etsy store at: PointofHueArts.
Selected Venues
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Licensed Professional Counselor and Expressive Writing Therapist
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Columbine High School
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Lighthouse Writers Workshop
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Maria Droste Counseling Center
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National Association for Poetry Therapy's annual conferences
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Transformative Language Arts Network
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Benet Pines annual poetry/ journal therapy trainings
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Therapeutic Writing Institute
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Global Centre for Advanced Studies
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University of Denver
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Goddard College
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University of Northern Colorado
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Denver Seminary
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Stanley British Primary School
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Stony Brook Prep School
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Street's Hope (women transitioning out of prostitution)
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Writing to Be Free (women transitioning out of incarceration)
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Urban Skyewriters
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40+ churches, retreats, and spiritual gatherings
