"There are other ways to access your inner world of feelings. One of the most effective is through writing. Most of us have poured out our hearts in angry, accusatory, plaintive, or sad letters after people have betrayed or abandoned us. Doing so almost always makes us feel better, even if we never send them. When you write to yourself, you don’t have to worry about other people’s judgment - you just listen to your own thoughts and let their flow take over. Later, when you reread what you wrote, you often discover surprising truths." - Body keeps the score, Bessel van der Kolk
This post will be about how writing can become a therapeutic tool to help us overcome obstacles, process emotions and move on.
If you specifically have troubles creating but you really want to or feel like it would be great to do so, I invite you to also read my post on Artist's way.
Before we start I want to highlight that writing therapy should be used as a source of extra support and a self-help tool. If you find yourself in hard life situations it's always better to find a therapist who can help you with your specific struggles. Writing can be helpful, but won't be a substitute for meetings with a trained mental health professional.
With that being said, let's get into it!
First, what benefits of using writing as a therapeutic tool are there? Is it even working?
It is, and the benefits can include:
• having a safe outlet for emotions and thoughts
• increase in insight and clarity of problems
• reduced anxiety, depression and PTSD symptoms
• enhanced emotional regulation
• boost of self-compassion and empowerment
• easier falling asleep
Let's now see how we can use writing as a therapeutic tool!
1. EXPRESSIVE WRITING
Writing about traumatic or stressful experiences in detail, which can be guided by prompts but doesn't have to be. I personally use expressive writing to deal with my issues quite often, and regularly include it in my stories as well. You don't have to write about it as if it happened to you; you can pass it to a story character instead.
2. JOURNALING
Regular, informal writing about daily thoughts, feelings, and experiences increases self-awareness and emotional processing. You don't have to be a master writer to be able to do this; even a few sentences of honestly expressed pain or worry can lift your spirit.
3. NARRATIVE THERAPY
"In narrative therapy, there is an emphasis on the stories that you develop and carry with you through your life. As you experience events and interactions, you give meaning to those experiences and they, in turn, influence how you see yourself and the world. You can carry multiple stories at once, such as those related to your self-esteem, abilities, relationships, and work." - verywellmind.com
You can do this in a written form, reframing how you view yourself and developing self-compassion.
4. LETTERS
Writing unsent letters to people (including yourself) is a great way to express feelings or resolve issues. It's very helpful in situations where a person from your life hurt you but won't face it. You can write them a letter, expressing how much it affected you, and what you wished they would do or say. Those letters usually remain unsend.
5. GRATITUDE JOURNAL
You can write down a couple of things you're grateful for everyday, even if it feels like an impossible task. This mental excersize teaches you to see more of the positive stuff around you, can boost your mood and resilience.
6. INNER CHILD WORK
...or inner teenager, doesn't really matter. In this writing therapy you write down about an imaginary meeting of your younger self and your current self, where you can have a conversation between them, share feelings, insights, but also give love and understanding to the parts of you which need it.
7. GOOD NIGHT RANT
This is something I started doing recently and it already helped me a lot. If you have struggles falling asleep due to your worries or thinking about numerous things you have to take care of, take a piece of paper and write down everything that keeps bothering you at the moment. Take a moment to do this, and if anything new shows up, add it to the list. When you feel like you already wrote everything down, put the paper aside. Your mind is now free of the task to remember everything you need to do and it should be much easier to relax and fall asleep.
8. POETRY
Even reading poetry can already be healing on certain levels. For me reading Rupi Kaur's books does it; she's a master of putting emotions into words.
You can also write your own poetry. You don't have to worry about rhymes; try free writing instead. Set a timer for a couple of minutes and write down whatever comes to your mind without judgement.
You can also use prompts, such as "Write about a time you felt safe” or “Describe an emotion as if it were a place".
A different way of using poetry in a therapeutic way is to write down what bothers you, even in a couple of words (for example "school", "expectations", "pressure"), and then try to turn it into a poem.
"Writing experiments from around the world (...) consistently show that writing about upsetting events improves physical and mental health" - Body keeps the score, Bessel van der Kolk
That's all from me for today. Feel free to share your own therapeutic writing techniques, I'm very curious what other things work as well. Stay well!
PS: I invite you to read my post on the healing power of writing. There's also one about how our nervous system's messages show in our writing. And for a dose of motivation and comfort, check out some writing affirmations. There's also a post on "Artist's way", a perfect self-help book for struggling artists.
Comments
Post a Comment