Therapeutic Writing and Transformational Workshops; what’s the difference and how it can help you?
Therapeutic Writing: Level 1
Ever heard that saying, “What planet are you on?” That’s usually when we’re not feeling right, not feeling like ourselves and someone’s noticed. You don’t have to move planets, just focus on yourself for a while and try something new.
Therapeutic writing is the term for writing as a means to process your thinking and feeling. The techniques have a wide range from keeping a journal and writing down things that have caused anxiety or depression or perhaps detailing some happy news or maybe simply writing down bullet points and scribbling or doodling; there are no rules. You need never show anyone what you write, you can keep it, bin it, set the thing on fire if you want to but it’s yours and no one has a right to read it (probably best not to set it on fire unless you live in a darkened cave, inside a tall cliff next to the sea!)
JW Pennebaker was one of the first researchers to tell us about why writing is so good for us. You see, most of the time you know the answer to your problem, you just don’t want to know (even when you do.) In the therapeutic workshops we use a combination of poetry, prose, imagination and sometimes objects to bring to life those words lost inside often connected to fear, anger, sadness and sometimes confusion about identity.
Week by week I’ll guide you through the process in a safe and friendly environment where you can choose to do as many of the exercises you want to or you can miss out any that you’re not comfortable with. You’ll meet new people, create lasting friendships and learn more about why you do the things you do and how to tame that head full of seagulls. I call this course the ‘Level 1’ course. It’s not therapy, but it is therapeutic.
Transformational Therapeutic Workshops Level 2:
Typically, this series of workshops may involve doing some writing but often use more ‘doing’ methods to address that which has remained ‘felt’ and unspoken. In other words you listen to your body and the associated physical sensations to address what’s going on in the mind (which in turn, affects the body; who knew?) Perhaps you have high blood pressure, sleepless nights, weight gain or weight loss (without intention) or other physical pain from inflammatory illness? By gaining awareness of what your body is telling you, you can learn to understand and have compassion for yourself and who knows, maybe even cut yourself a bit of slack? Nobody has all the answers but we can learn from our own experience and in doing so, can become informed, learn to accept ourselves and be transformed. Typical exercises include; slow-breathing, guided imagery, meditation and sound therapy or simply listening carefully to another’s story and in turn perhaps, telling your own story, (although, there is absolutely no obligation to do so.) Notice the feelings you become aware of and enjoy the simple act of being ‘heard’, giving yourself a voice and knowing that someone ‘gets’ you, understands why you feel this way and how painful your journey has been.
In a time when many of us are or have experienced anxiety and depression, low mood, brain fog, uncertainty, unable to make important decisions, feeling anger and resentment (and sometimes not knowing why,) we need to learn more about ourselves, how to engage with ourselves and others and learn new and lasting techniques.
Sometimes, we aren’t able to engage in one-to-one therapy or perhaps we’ve had some in the past and want to learn how to sustain ourselves in between therapy sessions or lots. (Photo by Steve Busch on Unsplash.)