Writing is no stranger to therapy. For years, professionals have used records, questionnaires, diaries, and other writing forms to help people recover from stress and trauma.
Scholars trace the idea of writing as therapy to the time of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, around 1,200 BC: the entrance to his royal library stated: "House of healing for the soul". The American Unity Minister Samuel Crothers coined the term "bibliotherapy" in 1916, and in the late 1980s, James Pennebaker led the modern movement of writing therapy in a pivotal research study that showed the potential health benefits of "expressive writing" in emotional disturbance.
In the last two decades, writing therapy has joined dance and art therapy as a legitimate therapeutic instrument, and this has sparked a growing interest in a type of writing that focuses on the healing power of putting feelings on paper or on screen. In this Psychology-Online article we will discover together 8 simple and creative therapeutic writing exercises.
Writing, giving materiality to the non-existent, allows one to feel and see it from another perspective. Hence the psychological importance of writing in our way of foreshadowing change, of giving ourselves a new image of ourselves, to envision for ourselves an "authentic self", all to discover and rebuild.
Writing means getting in touch with yourself and with others and training both the ability to recounted, discovering the uniqueness and beauty of every essential novel, as the equally important of hear. Writing as therapy leads to to get in touch with, and sometimes to discover, one's own inner time, the sheet becomes the white space on which to say the unspeakable because it is too intimate, or unknown even to himself.
The ultimate goal of the writer is contact, so in writing therapy it can be a tool to reach the other fully. Writing is support in the therapeutic process as a creative act whose purpose is to promote the spontaneity of the self in the limit contact, overcoming the block and achieving full contact: thus, writing in therapy becomes an act curative-creative.
Writing and its development, first individual and then collective, strongly demands a greater understanding of the other, a marked predisposition towards those who are telling about themselves, a more heartfelt and natural attention for those who are listening, a willingness to welcome the new meaning of the life of others and of our own, in a climate characterized by an indisputable and omnipresent confidence.
James Pennybacker, professor of social psychology at the University of Austin (Texas) and principal scholar of therapeutic effects, both in the physical as well as psychological plane, of writing, has shown how useful it is to write as long as it is done with some constancy (in his laboratories proposes write for 15 minutes every day), and that not only the facts are counted, but also the emotions related to them and consequent.
- Writing seems to function as an active strategy for cope with situations through the construction of a narrative text that transforms disorganized emotional and sensory memories into a linguistic structure with a precise spatio-temporal dimension.
- The more coherent and vivid the story, the more it achieves understand one's own story, capture its peculiarities and give it meaning. For example, the person who writes a traumatic event is forced to translate it into words, it is that is, to arrange, organize and present the information in a linguistic structure, which it implies cognitive changes immediate.
- Furthermore, she is obliged to face emotions related to the traumatic event narrated and to control its impact.
- Another benefit of therapeutic writing is that, little by little, they are also being introduced changes in social relationships and in the way of speaking to others.
Once we have seen the many benefits of therapeutic writing, you will wonder what are the best therapeutic writing exercises. Whichever format is chosen, writing therapy can help the user to stimulate their own personal growth, practicing creative expression, and experiencing a sense of empowerment and control over life From the writer. Here are 8 simple and creative therapeutic writing exercises.
1. The personal diary
The essence of our psyche is given by the changes that seem to escape observation: the personal diary captures life, Through the words, a collage of lived moments is represented and continuity is provided to the variation of the existence. Journaling can be, for example, an essential part of the process of resolving a loss, grief, or grief. In this article we talk about grieving processes.
2. Free writing
Also called "journaling," this exercise in therapeutic writing allows the person to put things that come to mind on paper. There is no censorship or judgment involved in the free writing process; it's about writing everything that comes to mind. In some cases, the thoughts may be coherent and complete, while others may be partial sentences or isolated ideas. Writing can include both positive and negative feelings, but people are encouraged to accept and acknowledge all of them.
3. The poetry
Although some people initially find writing poetry intimidating, in some cases the process can be incredibly therapeutic. Therapists will usually guide this task in some way, giving the person ideas about what to write or how to organize thoughts into readable prose. Again, the words that go on paper must be recognized and accepted without judgment for the simple thoughts and ideas that are in order for the writing to be therapeutic.
4. The letter
This therapeutic writing exercise can be especially helpful for people who are struggling with an individual or a relationship. This letter can be written to express feelings towards the other person, whether of happiness, anger, rage, rage, etc. The letter could include many things that people want to say to the other face to face, but cannot for various reasons. The message should not be sent to the other person, it is a therapeutic exercise for oneself.
5. Automatic writing
A great way to avoid self and others judgment or ongoing mental wear and tear is to type automatically, random words that seem to have no connection to each other. However, they almost always contain a deep truth: they are suggestions, concepts, hopes, desires that come from that portion of consciousness that is normally erased from the mind. To discover what is the message that comes from the conscious use of automatic writing, after a few days the words that you have written automatically will be read.
6. The autobiographical tale
Another exercise to continue practicing therapeutic writing is to relate one's life. Writing your own autobiography is not a mere list of dates, names, and events. On the contrary, create an emotional story, immerse yourself in the role of the protagonist and face the vicissitudes that life proposes is a great way to find meaning in your own experience existential and build an identity more balanced.
7. Writing the problem
Another very useful therapeutic writing exercise is the one that we can practice in the case of problems that are faced. Start with the ten minute writing technique without stopping to describe the problem in front of you. Next, identify the main obstacles and analyze them one by one, still spending ten minutes per point, per problem. Lastly, write down what you really think about these problems and identify possible solutions. It may be that the solution will not come right away, but do not despair because the thought process that will lead you to find the solution is generally triggered here.
8. Deconstruction
We have to start from something that is part of our life and we consider problematic and then, thanks to the continuous rewriting of the "problem", divide it into smaller problems. This exercise allows us to give the appropriate dimension to the problem and see it from a new point of view, possibly with fewer concerns, generalizations, trivializations.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
