• Writing to Heal
• Do's and Dont's of Expressing Yourself through Writing
• Try It Now
• Monitor Your Response
• Planning for Change
• Protecting Your Privacy
• Sources

Writing to Heal

“Write instead of suffering wordlessly” is the advice of Louise DeSalvo, author of Writing as a Way of Healing. The research of James Pennebaker and others indicates that writing can improve our mental and physical health. Writing to heal does not require any innate talent and you do not need to share your writing with anyone. In this module, you will learn:

• Guidelines for selecting topics for writing
• Strategies to protect your writing privacy
• The “Pennebaker Method” of writing to support health
• “Appreciative Writing” using the “Captured Moments” technique

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Do’s and Don’ts

In her book Writing as a Way of Healing, Louise DeSalvo gives us the following guidelines for safe and effective writing:

DO

• Write regularly, but not so much that you are overwhelmed.
  
• Try to write an extremely detailed, coherent, vivid and emotionally compelling narrative.
  
• Write about experiences you’ve never disclosed, discussed or resolved.
  
• Get support if you need it—writing may bring up difficult and complex feelings.
  
• Write about joys and pleasures!

DON’T

• Don’t censor yourself–use whatever language helps.
• Don’t worry about correctness, grammar or punctuation.
• Don’t be overly intellectual or over-analyze.
• Don’t use writing to complain—instead, do it to discover how and why you feel as you do.
• Don’t use writing as a substitute for actions you should be taking.
• Don’t use writing as a substitute for therapy or medical care.

It is not necessary to write every day, but you may wish to establish an on-going writing program. Writing regularly may help you cope with new pain, changes in your pain or other difficult situations.

We encourage you to try both methods of writing since they may complement one another. You can find additional writing techniques that may fit your needs in Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma and Emotional Upheaval by James Pennebaker and The Way of the Journal: A Journal Therapy Workbook for Healing by Kathleen Adams.

“Find expression for sorrow, and it will become dear to you.
Find expression for a joy, and it will intensify its ecstasy.”
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Irish poet and playwright

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Try It Now

You can try expressing yourself through writing now by clicking on the below links:

• Appreciative Writing
• Writing About Difficult Experiences

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Monitor Your Response

Use the “Response Worksheet” to think about what you currently do in terms of finding ways to process your emotions, both negative and positive. Explore how you might be able to use writing to better manage your pain.

DOWNLOAD RESPONSE WORKSHEET-EMOTIONS THROUGH WRITING

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Planning for Change

Use the “Action Plan Worksheet” to identify one thing you would like to change about how you process your emotions and how you will begin to use writing as a tool for that purpose.

DOWNLOAD ACTION PLAN WORKSHEET-EMOTIONS THROUGH WRITING

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Protecting Your Privacy

You will not be able to write freely and effectively if you are concerned that what you write will be read by others. Find a quiet, private place to write. Let others around you know that you do not wish to be disturbed. Write only for yourself – this will allow you to write more freely.

Keep your writings in a safe place, where they will remain private. When you no longer wish to keep what you have written, throw them away or use a shredder or another secure way of disposal. If you are not sure you can keep your writings private, get rid of what you have written after each writing session.

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Sources

Adams, Kathleen. (1990). Journal to the Self: Twenty-Two Paths to Personal Growth - Open the Door to Self-Understanding by Reading, Writing, and Creating a Journal of Your Life. New York: Warner Books.

Adams, Kathleen. (1998). The Way of the Journal: A Journal Therapy Workbook for Healing, 2nd ed. Maryland: Sidran Press.

DeSalvo, Louise. (2000). Writing as a Way of Healing. Beacon Press.

Pennebaker, James. (1997). Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions, revised edition. New York: Guilford Press.

Pennebaker, James. (2004). Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma and Emotional Upheaval. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Press.

The Center for Journal Therapy (Kathleen Adams, LPC, RPT) http://www.journaltherapy.com/index.html

James W. Pennebaker’s home page
http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/Faculty/
Pennebaker/Home2000/JWPhome.htm

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