Writing Can Help Us Heal from Trauma
Unveiling the transformative power of words, we delve into how writing can serve as a therapeutic tool for healing from trauma. Explore the profound connection between penning thoughts and emotional recovery, and the science that supports this intriguing relationship.
Why does a writing intervention work?
While it may seem counterintuitive that writing about negative experiences has a positive effect, some have posited that narrating the story of a past negative event or an ongoing anxiety “frees up” cognitive resources.
- Even as we inoculate our bodies and seemingly move out of the pandemic, psychologically we are still moving through it. We owe it to ourselves – and our coworkers – to make space for processing this individual and collective trauma.
- Healing is essential to our collective wellness, and expressive writing has already proven to be a tool for enhancing well-being in teachers and other full-time workers.
No detail too small; no feeling too large
Access what really happened by returning to even the small moments, the minutiae, that ground you in the experience.
- Prompt: Think of one object in your home that signifies a moment in this pandemic for you. See it in full color and feel the weight of it. Use all your senses.
Reach for revelation
What do you know now that you didn’t know before the pandemic? How did you learn it? When did your knowing change?
- Lisa Ventura, a student who came through my Voice the Pandemic nonfiction workshop, shared some of these thoughts in her piece.
Writing That Heals
The most healing writing must follow a set of creative parameters: it must contain concrete, authentic, explicit detail, and it must link feelings to events – on the page.
- In the telling, such writing transforms the writer from a victim into a powerful narrator with the power to observe.
The Only Way Out Is Through
The 13th-century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi wrote, “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
- When we use writing to lay bare our truths, we remain protagonists in our lives, rather than victims of circumstances beyond our control.
- Writing expressively can also lead us toward hope.
Don’t hold back
This writing is for you first and foremost
- Don’t worry about grammar or spelling
- Set a timer for ten minutes, keep your hand moving, and “freewrite” in response to a specific prompt
- Without overthinking it, write down words, notes, phrases, sentences – whatever bubbles up when you think about dramatic moments from your pandemic experience