Table of Contents
What is writing for healing?
Writing is a form of expressive therapy that uses the process of creative writing to cope with and heal from emotional trauma. The relationship between expressive writing and healing was first studied by Dr. James Pennebaker in the late 1980s, whose seminal study revealed striking benefits of writing about trauma. Expressive writing is a form of writing therapy developed primarily by James W. Pennebaker in the late 1980s. The seminal expressive writing study instructed participants in the experimental group to write about a ‘past trauma’, expressing their very deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding it. By writing, you put some structure and organization to those anxious feelings, he explains. It helps you to get past them. Other research by Pennebaker indicates that suppressing negative, trauma-related thoughts compromises immune functioning, and that those who write visit the doctor less often. Why is writing so potent? Because writing is a form of thinking — a particularly powerful form, since those ideas can be re-read not only by you, but by millions of others as well. Writing changes minds, minds change behavior, and behavior changes lives. The three basic steps of expressive writing – prewriting, composing, and revising – have to be taught explicitly.
Is journaling a form of healing?
Several studies suggest that daily expressive writing helps reduce stress, improve quality of life and may help people navigate challenging physical and mental health conditions. In the late 1980s, James Pennebaker, psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, led the modern writing therapy movement in a landmark research study that showed the potential health benefits of “expressive writing” about emotional upheaval. Research suggests writing about trauma can be beneficial because it helps people re-evaluate their experiences by looking at them from different perspectives. Studies suggest writing about traumatic events can help ease the emotional pressure of negative experiences. Journaling: Write about your thoughts without censoring them, even if they’re unpleasant. Sometimes just putting those thoughts down can help you work through them. This is a form of expressive writing, where you’re focusing on emotions and experiences, not punctuation and grammar. The authors concluded that: ‘writing about earlier traumatic experience was associated with both short-term increases in physio- logical arousal and long-term decreases in health problems’ (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986: p. 280). both physical and psychological health, in non-clinical and clinical populations. There are many purposes to writing. The most popular are to inform, to entertain, to explain, or to persuade. However, there are many more including to express feelings, explore an idea, evaluate, mediate, problem solve, or argue for or against an idea.
Why is journaling healing?
Journaling is a method of expressing and releasing thoughts and feelings. It can be a powerful tool for healing. Just as talking to someone about feelings, experiences, and emotions, journaling can also allow for the release of these thoughts and allow you to emotionally process what you’ve been dealing with. Journaling happens to be one of the most therapist/counselor recommended, simplest and effective coping mechanisms for managing mental illness. Journaling can reduce stress by serving as an escape or emotional release of negative thoughts and feelings. A 2011 study highlighted the positive impact journaling had on adolescents who struggled with worry and self-doubt before test taking. Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health, in non-clinical and clinical populations.
Does writing help you heal?
Expressive writing can result in a reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression; improve our sleep and performance; and bring us greater focus and clarity. These effects of writing as a tool for healing are well documented. Expressive writing—jotting down your uncensored thoughts a few minutes once or twice a day and then destroying what you have written—helps your brain relearn and “rewire” its responses to the experiences that trigger pain. James Pennebaker was the first researcher that studied therapeutic effects of writing. He developed a method called expressive writing, which consists of putting feelings and thoughts into written words in order to cope with traumatic events or situations that yield distress (Pennebaker & Chung, 2007). The expressive writing protocol consists of asking someone to write about a stressful, traumatic or emotional experience for three to five sessions, over four consecutive days, for 15-20 minutes per session. Research has found it to be useful as a stand-alone tool or as an adjunct to traditional psychotherapies. It will make your thinking clear and improve your communication. You learn how to express complex elements in simple possible words. And the most important thing is that you will have your very own story. A story in terms about what you have written and who you were when you wrote it.
Why is writing so healing?
By writing, you put some structure and organization to those anxious feelings, he explains. It helps you to get past them. Other research by Pennebaker indicates that suppressing negative, trauma-related thoughts compromises immune functioning, and that those who write visit the doctor less often. Writing therapy posits that writing one’s feelings gradually eases feelings of emotional trauma. Writing therapeutically can take place individually or in a group and it can be administered in person with a therapist or remotely through mailing or the Internet. Journaling: Write about your thoughts without censoring them, even if they’re unpleasant. Sometimes just putting those thoughts down can help you work through them. This is a form of expressive writing, where you’re focusing on emotions and experiences, not punctuation and grammar. The process of writing your thoughts down helps to solidify them. Seeing them on the paper allows you to see them more clearly and will push you into taking action. This doesn’t just apply to negative thoughts or problems; writing down your ideas and ambitions for the future is the first step to making them a reality. Keeping a journal helps you create order when your world feels like it’s in chaos. You get to know yourself by revealing your most private fears, thoughts, and feelings. Look at your writing time as personal relaxation time. It’s a time when you can de-stress and wind down. Why is writing so potent? Because writing is a form of thinking — a particularly powerful form, since those ideas can be re-read not only by you, but by millions of others as well. Writing changes minds, minds change behavior, and behavior changes lives.
Can writing heal you?
Expressive writing can result in a reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression; improve our sleep and performance; and bring us greater focus and clarity. These effects of writing as a tool for healing are well documented. It has been demonstrated, across a variety of investigations, that writing activities yield a number of intellectual, physiological, and emotional benefits to individuals. These bene- fits include improve memory function, decreased symptomatology, and greater feelings of happiness. A study by APA showed that writing can help to relieve stress by combatting negative and intrusive thoughts. The study explains that writing about negative experiences can help you to overcome them and that, by putting your experience into perspective, you are able to concentrate on the positive as a result. Writing clarifies your thinking, allows you to articulate and explain yourself to others, and allows us to work together to build things we could not alone. While it may be painful–and at times, feel like it will kill you–writing a memoir can be key to your own personal healing process from a difficult time in your life. There are four purposes writers use for writing. When someone communicates ideas in writing, they usually do so to express themselves, inform their reader, to persuade a reader or to create a literary work.