
Welcome! I’m Deborah Bayer, writer and workshop facilitator.
I am (mostly) retired from the practice of Infectious Disease and Palliative Care. I write poems and personal essays, and I’m working on a memoir about the need for emotional support in the workplace.
I facilitate writing groups via Zoom. These groups blend the Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) methodology with the Narrative Medicine workshop format.
Visit my Shop to see the upcoming workshops.

A Rope Made of Bandages
Poems by Deborah Bayer

AWA Workshops
The supportive approach of the AWA method lends itself to healing from all kinds of trauma, including the trauma of medical training.
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My Substack newsletter, Healers Write, Writers Heal is published biweekly.
Blog Archive
The Middle Path of Empathy
In Buddhism, there is a middle path. Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, was born into a life of indulgence. Later in his life, he practiced extreme asceticism and deprivation. When he sat meditating under the Bodhi tree, he became enlightened, and he found a...
Learning Spiritual Truths
Last week I mentioned the first agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements, be impeccable with your word. Today’s post is about agreement #3, don’t make assumptions. Being a Palliative Care doctor helped me learn to be more direct in my speech. One...
Staying Safe on the Learning Curve
The members of the writing group I facilitate have been together for six months. And the safety of the group is up to me. I no longer consider myself a freshman facilitator. I am a sophomore, or as my father called them, wise morons. The word sophomore derives...