Welcome to Lapidus International
The Words and Writing For Wellbeing Community
Lapidus International is a membership organisation open to everyone with an interest in words for wellbeing.
We support and champion words and writing for wellbeing through development opportunities, exclusive member events, access to the latest research, and more.
We offer a supportive network to enhance both personal and professional wellbeing practice.
What Is Words and Writing For Wellbeing?
Words and writing for wellbeing is the use of words to explore thoughts, express emotions, and support personal growth. It’s not about perfect grammar or literary skill, it’s about connecting with yourself through journalling, poetry, storytelling, or reflective writing. Whether used in a group setting or privately, writing can be a powerful tool to process experiences, build resilience, and find clarity.
At Lapidus, we celebrate writing in all its forms as a gentle, creative way to nurture emotional, mental, and social wellbeing. Find out more in our handy guide to writing for wellbeing.
Upcoming Events
Writing, Weaving, and Story: A Heuristic Self-Study
This session explores creative writing as a mode of inquiry, drawing on a heuristic self-study engaging with the figure of Penelope from The Odyssey. I will share how writing and weaving came together within my research process as ways of exploring and re-shaping story.
I reflect on midlife as a period of change and reconfiguration and consider how arts-based practices—such as blackout poetry, dialogue, and textile work—supported processes of meaning-making in my own experience.
It will be informal and practice-based, with a short, gentle writing invitation for participants to try out some of these approaches in relation to their own research or practice.
About Alison Cable
Alison Cable is a writer and creative writing facilitator working in the field of Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (CWTP). She completed an MSc at Metanoia Institute with distinction, where her research explored writing and weaving as heuristic, arts-based methods for narrative inquiry, with a focus on midlife and story.
She has served as Co-Editor and Board Member for Lapidus International and currently facilitates reading and writing groups in community and educational settings, including The Reader and the London Literary Salon. Her work is interested in creative writing as a reflective and exploratory practice, particularly in relation to experience, identity, and change. She is particularly interested in poetry, reading aloud, and shared reading, and in conversations about literature and how stories are told and retold.
Joining the event
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89827230742
Meeting ID: 898 2723 0742
Please note that this event will be recorded. The recording will be available for a limited time after the live event. Please allow a couple of working days for us to process and upload the recording after the live event.
For questions before or after the day of the event, please contact Flo on membership@lapidus.org.uk (responses on Tuesdays and Fridays). For queries on the day of the event, please contact mel@write4word.org.
About the Lapidus Living Research Community
The Lapidus Living Research Community (LLRC) meets on the first Saturday of every month via Zoom to discuss all things research, with a focus on qualitative arts-based research practices, theory and methods.
All Lapidus members are welcome, regardless of research experience. LLRC events are free and no tickets are required. Use the Zoom link above to access the event.
New to Lapidus? A very warm welcome to you!
As a new member, you’re invited to Lapidus Welcome, a relaxed quarterly online gathering designed to help new members feel at home within the community. These sessions offer a chance to meet other members, learn more about Lapidus and its work, ask questions, and begin building connections in a warm and supportive space.
The sessions are primarily aimed at members who have joined within the last few months, though existing members who would like a refresher — or who are looking to reconnect with the organisation and community — are also very welcome to attend.
Each session will include introductions and informal networking, alongside a short overview of Lapidus, membership opportunities and benefits, upcoming events, and ways to get involved. Depending on group size, there may also be breakout conversations or smaller discussion groups to help members connect more personally. You’ll have the chance to meet our Coordination team and other members who have recently joined.
Whether you are completely new to writing for wellbeing, newly joined to Lapidus, or simply curious about how to make the most of your membership, Lapidus Welcome is intended to help you feel informed, included, and connected from the outset.
We will hold these events regularly throughout the year and vary the day of the week and time of day to make them as accessible as possible for members in different circumstances and time zones. If you are unable to attend one session, we hope you will be able to join us for a future event.
First session
Friday 26 June, 12:00pm (UK time)
Free to attend – sign up to let us know you’re coming
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/G11RW7YFaed47Rk88
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89202665308
Meeting ID: 892 0266 5308
Please note
Lapidus Welcome is an informal community session rather than a training event or workshop. While participation is encouraged, members are welcome to engage at whatever level feels comfortable for them, including simply listening and observing.
Photo by Maria Lin Kim on Unsplash
Looking to build deeper connections within the Lapidus community?
The Lapidus One-to-One Networking Carousel is a simple monthly networking initiative designed to encourage meaningful, one-to-one conversations in a relaxed and informal way. Rather than attending a large networking event, you’ll be matched with another Lapidus member or two, for a conversation arranged at a time that suits you.
Whether you’re hoping to exchange ideas, reflect on your practice, explore different approaches to writing for wellbeing, or simply meet people within the community, the Carousel offers a welcoming space for thoughtful connection and conversation.
Each month, members can sign up via a short online form. After the sign-up deadline, participants will be paired and introduced by email. From there, it’s entirely up to you how you’d like to connect — online, by phone, or even in person where practical.
The Carousel is especially suited to members who enjoy the one-to-one conversations that can be harder to find in traditional networking events. Conversations can be informal, reflective, practical, creative, or professionally focused — the format is intentionally flexible and member-led.
You are welcome to take part as often as you like, and we’ll do our best to match you with someone different each time.
Upcoming dates
Sign-up deadline: Monday 8th June, Monday 6th July, Thurdsay 6th August, Monday 7th September 2026
Introductions will be sent by email the following Tuesday or Friday.
Please note: By signing up, you agree to your email address being shared with your matched partner(s) for the purpose of arranging your conversation. Participants are responsible for arranging their own one-to-one call or meeting. While we will do our best to make thoughtful matches, Lapidus cannot guarantee availability, compatibility, or ongoing contact between participants. Participation is voluntary, and members may withdraw from future rounds at any time.
Photo by Dylan Ferreira on Unsplash
Tuesday evenings, 7-9 pm UK time (BST) – 2nd-23rd June
Compassion Journalling uses two-pen dialogue, visual mapping, poetry, and mindfulness to help you develop a genuine relationship with your own compassionate voice – not as a performance of self-care, but as a felt, creative resource.
Drawing from Compassion Focused Therapy and self-compassion research, this four-week course offers practical tools for responding to yourself with curiosity, care, and honesty.
What You’ll Explore
Week 1 – Foundation and attuned listening Week 2 – Developing your compassionate voice Week 3 – Fierce compassion and self-nurture Week 4 – Integration and sustaining practice
What’s Included
Four live sessions via Zoom (link sent the day before the course begins)
A 58-page Compassion Journal Companion to support your practice beyond the course
Invitation to monthly Compassion Circles for graduates
What Participants Say
“I came away feeling lighter and much more aware of the need for compassion to be present in my life – for me. I also loved writing the joint pantoum with our small and lovely group.” – Alexandra Harrington
“These sessions were the best kind of disruption I have experienced in a long time. It takes someone special to be able to hold this kind of space.” – Poonam
“The way you listen and engage with us is so warm. You’re very skilled at taking what we say, honouring our truth and adapting it to suit the rest of the group, while still honouring what each person said.” – Saskia
Not sure if this course is the right fit for you now? Get in touch – kate@self-centred.com
Join us in using creative writing to explore our relationships to local rivers, at this time of ecological crisis.
In this series of 4 online workshops, participants will be invited to focus on a river of their choice and to spend time with their river in between sessions. Using playful prompts, we will weave our riverly discoveries into our words, writing to and from the perspective of our chosen rivers.
We will meet weekly on zoom, between 6 and 8 pm, on the following evenings:
Monday 8th June
Monday 15th June
Monday 22nd June
Monday 29th June
All writing levels are very welcome. There will be opportunities to share your work in the group but there is no obligation to do so. The emphasis in these workshops is not to perfect our writing practice but to use writing as a tool for expression and curiosity.
Places are limited to 8 participants. To ensure group cohesion, please be clear you are able to make all 4 session dates before purchasing a ticket.
Tickets are offered on a donation basis at a suggested value of £30 in total for all sessions. All donations will go directly to the Totnes Climate Hub.
If you have any questions please email Tamzin at hello@apple-barn.com
Tamzin is a writer and gentle activist, and she holds an MSc in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes. She is passionate about using writing as a way of being present to our ecosphere.
‘The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and the realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction’ – Rachel Carson
A friendly and supportive online space to explore, create and express yourself through words.
This is a pressure-free creative space where we use poetry, prose and images to explore, create and express the self through writing, sharing (always optional) and reflecting. No experience of writing or poetry is needed.
Join Lapidus International...
…from as little as £3.50 per month.
As a Lapidus Member, you are part of a supportive, international community who believe in the power of using words to enhance and transform.
You’ll receive a monthly newsletter, get discounts on events and training, have access to our online library of Lapidus journals and more. All for as little as £3.50 per month!
Lapidus News
Our vision
In these times of global upheaval, where words can be debased, Lapidus International will not compromise.
We know that writing endures as a way to express suffering and joy, healing and belonging in the intersection of personal circumstances and social conditions.
Through practice, research, publishing, and partnerships, we recognise words and writing as an accessible force for wellbeing, activism and therapy.
Our membership reflects the voices of all communities, including those who have been discounted, prohibited, displaced and under-served.