Can writing really heal the sick and traumatised?

This is a fantastic piece by reader Eve Robinson, a writer who approached me through my email- matthewtuckey@hotmail.com. Pic courtesy Ant Smith, Flickr.

So writing is great, right? Blogging lets you tell the whole world what you have been up to, where you have been and your thoughts on a whole range of subjects - from the most important musings on political leadership to delicious recipes to try at home. But here’s a question? Can writing actually be considered to be a type of therapy? Life changing and enhancing therapy? There is growing body of thought that suggests that focussed writing groups can help individuals with all kinds of issues, from depression to anxiety and a number of other medical ailments, as well as helping some work through the traumas they have experienced in their lives. 

Creative writing therapy 

Along with these illnesses, creative writing is also thought to help those that have had or are suffering with addiction issues; issues that are incredibly complex and may have many reasons at their core. Whilst concrete research is still relatively thin on the ground from the UK, the University of Texas in the US has been conducting some interesting research into this theory. Professor Pennbaker is a member of the Universities’ Department of Psychology and has spent much of his time exploring the way that short, focussed writing sessions can help a whole range of people and that “people who have powerful secrets are more prone to a variety of health problems”. He believes that the impact of situations that cause emotional upheaval can, sometimes, be underestimated, that these situations can affect all aspects of our lives — our finances, our relationships with others and how we feel about ourselves. In some cases a completely unrelated experience can lead people down a much darker pattern of problems including addiction to drugs, alcohol or unhealthy behaviour patterns. These may require further professional therapy in order to resolve them - Recovery.org claims that "treatments that can be individually tailored" and take anything from 30 days to three months (or longer) are often successful - depending on the issues involved. But, whilst Pennbaker doesn’t say that writing can act as the only therapy he does argues that the process of writing can help to focus the mind and to help it deal with the trauma that has been faced. The mind, he argues, likes things to be ordered, so enabling it to do that through writing is, he believes, that way forward when dealing with emotion upheavals or traumas. 

This learned professor may just have a very valid point. The Recovery web site, recoveryview.com, also looks at this further in a piece entitled “Transforming Lives and Transforming the World with the Power of Words”. Take a deeper look at many cultures such as the indigenous tribes in native America or various western and eastern religious beliefs and you will find the act of talking about trauma is woven deep within them. When you have experienced an upheaval or trauma, or you are ill, anything can help. And it needn’t just be writing, it could be poetry as well, Recovering Words with Richard Osler aims to “celebrate the craft and healing art of poetry".

UK based researchers have also looked at how writing can aid professional development and how this reflective practice can improve life. Gillie Bolton is one of the UK’s leading researchers into this practice and has written a book about it. A research fellow at the Sheffield University, Bolton has developed her ideas into seminars for health and medical professionals, as a way to explore relationships and work issues. Some health authorities, such as the Cumbria Health Authority, have even taken up her thoughts and offered it as a model for individuals looking to “improve their practice or for personal development”.

Bitesize - how to apply creative writing to your life 

Bolton believes that the best place to start is to “mind dump”; write continuously for 6 minutes, about whatever comes into your mind. Don’t worry about your grammar or spelling, or whether it even really makes sense, just write. Once you have completed this stage think of a theme, it could be a recent personal experience, an issue at work or a relationship that has been making you ponder, or even something from your childhood, the key is to really think about it, about the essence of it. At a base level this is what writing can do for individuals - let you explore what is in your mind… at base level this is what blogging does for the many fans of it. 

Is it therapy or therapeutic?

Many people argue that as the world has become more technology based, that according to the Guardian, the UK has become “gadget obsessed”, that people have actually communicated less. It’s well documented that family life is now a very different concept to the one that say our parents and grandparents experienced — so, is there also an argument that writing offers some people the opportunity to say the things that they need to, and that in years gone by perhaps they would have said to a family member? It’s a tricky concept for some to tackle, but many people who write blogs would probably agree that there is a layer of therapy attached to getting your thoughts and feelings down on paper or typed on screen. It might not be the whole package but it seems writing can play an important factor in keeping the mind and body healthy.