Lapidus International Regional Groups

Expressing MySelf Institute runs an online Lapidus group in Greece. The meetings are held monthly for the autumn-winter period and are open all year round for new members from various backgrounds. The sessions are guided by Dimitra Didangelou, psychologist, MSc. Dimitra’s approach through therapeutic and expressive writing techniques encourages life reflection and self-exploration. The group is suitable for those seeking to gain insight into their inner lives, increase self-awareness, listen to their inner voice and connect with their full creative potential. The writing focuses entirely on tapping into the inner self, without any concern for narrative structure or grammar rules. The group discusses in the Greek language.

Lapidus HOT (Humber to Tweed) is the Lapidus group based in the North East of England.

A group of committed writers, we have been meeting for 10 years in Scarborough and surrounds until the pandemic. We have a core of 10 regular attendees and around 5 to 10 that attend less frequently. We all take our turn to facilitate and welcome new members to join us in writing together to soothe our soul and attend to social injustices. We have met online during 2019/20 and will have our first in-person offering in November 2021.

We are supportive and invite folx to explore writing and wellbeing in collaboration and partnership. Our Chair is Hilary Jenkins, Secretary Sue Spencer & treasurer Sally Jubb.

Lapidus Isle of Man is in the early stages of forming and we warmly invite anyone with an interest in writing for wellbeing to join us and help make it happen. Perhaps you’re a healthcare professional, a community centre coordinator, or simply someone who’d like to find out more about how writing for wellbeing can complement your work.

Lapidot Israel is a support and networking group for writing group facilitators, founded in 2015 and inspired by Lapidus UK. The growing group consists at the moment of 15 members from all regions of Israel. We meet once every six weeks. Our meetings are divided in two. First an experiential part, where each one of us in turn facilitates a writing excercise, with afterwards a discussion about it’s uses and ways to improve. The second part of the meeting deals with professional and organisational issues, like defining the core parts of our work and how to promote it in the service of wellbeing in it’s widest sense. Our members come from various backgrounds: bibliotherapy, poetry therapy, clinical social work, clinical psychology and group workers, literature teachers and writers. This variety allows for a very wide scope, and for making the task of defining our identity quite challenging. We operate on a voluntary basis among ourselves, have no membership fees and are not registered in any way. We share our knowledge and experience through a private network of email and whatsapp and we recommend each other to people searching for writing support in their region. We have started to promote writing for wellbeing by organizing occasional community-writing events in our own neighbourhoods.

Are you interesting in research in the field of writing for wellbeing? The Lapidus Living Research Community meets monthly via Zoom to discuss all things research, with a focus on qualitative research theory and methods. Our Zoom meeting link through the link below – it is the same link for each session. Everyone welcome, regardless of research experience. One of our members Jacki McCartney offered this definition of ‘living research’: an active, ongoing curiosity and openness to learn.

Our meeting takes place every two months, usually on the last Saturday of the month, from 1 pm to 3.30 pm. This may change if there is another event on this date which many of our regulars wish to attend . Members pay five pounds, non members ten pounds, the first meeting for non members is free.

Members enjoy catching up, exchanging news and information, sharing ideas and news of upcoming events .

We usually have a guest speaker. This can be an author / poet who has written a book which members are interested to hear more about ; someone who is willing to facilitate a workshop based on writing / well being or a member of the group who is willing to share their area of expertise.

Lapidus South West is based in the South West of the UK, around the Bristol area.

Lapidus Scotland is a lively group of bibliotherapy practitioners who hold regular events and work in a variety of settings, including Maggie’s cancer centres, hospitals, schools, prisons and charities. There is a very comprehensive website containing dozens of practical articles about running a writing for wellbeing group or event.

The Wordzels are a South West UK rural regional Lapidus group which serves the towns and villages outside of Bristol. Current members come from Ilminster, Salisbury, Newbury, Bath, Frome, Bradford-on-Avon, Melksham.

We meet on the first Sunday of every other month (Jan, March, May, July, Sept, Nov) from 11am, to 4pm.

This is a relatively new group grown from a need to serve Lapidus members living outside the city of Bristol. We meet to write and share and reflect and eat a delicious shared lunch. The group is developing successfully in to having a co-facilitated arrangement and, with our shared understanding of the W4W process, has a very safe, deep and potent quality already. Different members step forward to arrange the admin for each gathering. We hold the structure and space between using our known and beneficial format. Anyone can offer warm-ups or creative writing prompts or volunteer to hold the space and the structure on the day, by arrangement with that day’s host. The afternoon has until now been used for a ‘peer surgery’ which benefits all who take part. We are looking into venues in Nunney and Malmsbury, alternated, to serve our catchment.