Some might not see an intersection between writing and family therapy, but for Zanne Miller the connection is clear.
The graduate student in the UO College of Education master's program in Couples and Family Therapy (CFT) was recently awarded the Margaret McBride Lehrman Fellowship, which supports studies that emphasize communication, especially writing skills. Miller will use the fellowship to develop narrative and solution-focused therapies for the families with whom she works.
Miller, who had written for several local and regional newspapers in the Philadelphia area, came to the University of Oregon in 1995 to pursue a master’s in literary nonfiction.
“I was living in Philadelphia, which I loved, but I wanted to stretch myself and expand my horizons,” Miller said. “I had been to the Northwest on a road trip and fell in love with the mountains and the trees – so I found the best journalism school in the Northwest and applied. I got my master's in literary nonfiction in 1997 and never left.”
Miller has written for “Culinate,” “Oregon Quarterly” and “Etude: New Voices in Literary Nonfiction.” She has also taught writing to elementary school children, college students and senior citizens and has worked as a communications director, magazine editor and as a communications consultant for several Eugene-area organizations.
As a CFT student, Miller created an externship at the PeaceHealth Riverbend Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She’ll help mothers, couples, and families during a difficult time and she hopes to contribute something that will not only benefit NICU patients, their families, and hospital staff but future students in the CFT program as well.
“There's so much synchronicity between this and my previous career as a writer,” Miller said. “The Lehrman fellowship will give me the time and space I need to focus on improving as a narrative therapist and it will also allow for time to explore how I can help others bring their stories into the world as a writer and editor.”
- from the UO College of Education