Lawrence Spann, PhD, PA-C

Lawrence approaches the process of writing through poets, writers, song writers, artists and historical figures.

Literature and Medicine

There is strong scientific evidence that writing improves immune function and overall well-being. A vast time honored literary tradition substantiates this claim. Many people fear writing and deny their deepest creative and receptive impulses. One’s best writing, like a waking dream, comes from letting go and allowing authentic and raw emotions to flow on to paper. 

About Lawrence

My work focuses on making the unconscious conscious, a tall task indeed. I grew up in Buffalo, NY, and plunged into reading early, although not an inclination in my family. I was captivated by books like Albert Camus’ The Stranger and Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. From an early age, I researched the authors thoroughly and read everything they’d written, a pattern that persists today. At 19, I financed my hegira from Buffalo to the University of Miami, working a summer as a garbage man. After graduating as an English major, I counseled children, traveled, and worked on a construction crew in California. I returned to Florida, working as an ocean lifeguard and eventually as a firefighter/paramedic, which launched me into physician assistant training at Duke University in North Carolina. I was the Program Director of Duke University’s Preventive Approach to Cardiology (DUPAC) and Executive Director of the Lifestyle Heart Trial in Sausalito, CA. I completed a Ph.D. in creative writing with emphasis in the medical humanities and conceived a therapeutic writing program, the Literature, Arts, and Medicine Program (LAMP), at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, where I convened hundreds of writing groups, brought in well-known authors, and published Poet Healer and Blood on the Page. LAMP received national attention as the first hospital-based writing program to appear on “Literary Row” at the biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. I relocated to Santa Barbara in 2007, resumed clinical practice, and began A Parable of Lies, published in August 2021. My spouse, Elizabeth Ann Robinson, completed her doctorate in mythology and depth psychology and finished her book, The Soul of the Nurse, during that time. Our most recent project is creating a card deck of literary quotes and questions that prompt players to excavate and share their personal stories with others. I continue to convene writing groups locally.