The script can complement the emotional expression verbal and physical through what is known as therapeutic writing . This tool can be part of any psychotherapeutic treatment plan and can be very interesting for some people. While it requires personal effort, it can be very productive and liberating.
Benefits of therapeutic writing
What is writing for?
Writing is a powerful tool for expressing and coping with emotions. It allows us, on the one hand, to get to know ourselves better and, on the other, to speed up recovery from the discomfort that anxiety and depression symptoms usually cause us. Writing can help us unblock some emotions associated with our thoughts, make our goals and desires clearer, or help us understand situations that cause us problems with others. Writing usually makes us distance ourselves from what we live and also that we can give it a meaning. It helps us to consider our emotions in a simpler way by taking them out of our body and our mind. This usually helps us handle them more effectively without getting too hooked on them. Yes, writing is for all of this.
“ Writing helps us to distance ourselves from what we live and give it meaning. “
When is it better to write?
There are many ways to approach writing in a way that supports us in therapy sessions. You can choose one of them or try several or alternate them. It is often helpful to get into a writing routine by choosing, for example, a certain time or time of day and a place that can be quiet or inspiring. You can also skip those determinants when you need or want and go to writing spontaneously. Although it can be written on many media, you will have to find the one that suits you best. There are people who prefer the immediacy of writing a blank note on their mobile; while, for others it is essential to be able to see their own calligraphy drawn in a notebook that is special to them.
“ Once you find your moment, the important thing is that writing is interesting for you. “
In any case, the most important thing is that the writing is an interesting task for you, from which you can extract elements that are interesting for the work in the sessions. Writing is an occupation that encourages us to reflect and brings us closer to a more meditative state. It allows us to connect with our deepest part and brings us closer to an emotional place that may be less known to us.
Guide to therapeutic writing
In order to get started in therapeutic writing, we give you the following recommendations:
- Keep a personal diary : take a tour of your days with the events that are most important to you (both your external and internal world).
- Free writing : let your hand write the first thing that comes to mind, without judging or censoring you, even if the sentences are not completed or are not coherent.
- Stimulate the memory: make a list of several memories , as many as you want, starting with the phrase “I remember….” and letting the mind fill in the rest, either with occasional memories (for example a meal I used to like when I was six years old) or more elaborate anecdotes. Beginning to remember through this phrase stimulates memory and helps us capture memories that were apparently forgotten.
- Write about a situation or an incident that makes you feel bad: analyze all the feelings and emotions associated with it, detailing what is happening and trying to analyze it in the most concrete way possible. You can even make tentative about possible solutions.
- Fantasize : Write about things that you fantasize about, even if they are not feasible. What do I find myself fantasizing about throughout the day or what would I do in the next three months without being afraid of anything? Tell about your fantasies in the different areas of your life, from work or family to trips or friends.
- Write a letter and not send it: Write a letter to an important person that generates feelings of happiness, anger, sadness, anger or rage. What words would you say to that person, what would I like to say or have said? The letter should not be sent, it is a therapeutic exercise in itself.
- Write a story about your own life as an autobiography or about a unique event that is important in your life.
- Write about myself. Describe the facets of my personality, write about my body, the things I like, the things I hate, the things that excite me and those that scare me …
- Write about the people who are important to me. Describe the facets of their personality, describe the different parts of their bodies, the things that I like about them and those that I dislike. When I have met them and what things they do that I admire or have disappointed me.
- Write about my dreams . Keeping a notebook near the bed can help us grasp the main lines of elusive dreams so we can later delve into them in more elaborate writing.
Writing is always beneficial in a therapy process. It multiplies our self-knowledge, allows us to maintain the connection and the rhythm between sessions and on many occasions it puts words when the voice is not yet ready.
