Is Therapeutic Writing Considered Therapy?
Therapeutic writing can be used as a supplement or alternative to traditional “talk therapy.” However, it can also be effective in a non-clinical setting; as a self-help tool. This means therapeutic writing can work for you whether you are engaged in traditional counseling or not. In either situation, it will work if you are feeling “stuck” and want to move forward.
To be clear, “feeling stuck” could refer to any situation in your life where you can’t seem to make progress. Maybe it’s a project you’re working on, your career, a relationship, or something about your lifestyle. Therapeutic writing helps in all of those situations.
That’s because therapeutic writing helps you to get to the root of what you’re really thinking. Once you’ve gained that self-awareness, you’re setting yourself up to make decisions based on the truth. That puts you in a much stronger position to move forward in your life.
So, what do we do in a therapeutic writing workshop/private session that helps to dig to the root of your thoughts?
To give you an idea of what you’ll be doing in a therapeutic writing workshop/private session, read below about five key aspects of my unique method of therapeutic writing.
Integration with mindfulness. I have integrated principles of mindfulness throughout every therapeutic writing workshop and private session. This means you will spend time breathing deeply, noticing details, and paying attention to present happenings in your space. All of these actions promote calmness.
Inspiration by nature. The trees&breathe method is inspired by nature. During every therapeutic writing workshop and private session, you’ll receive invitations to your senses to take in stimulation from nature. As we are inside, this always includes beautiful nature pictures (sight) and bird song (hearing) and, sometimes, we use stones or leaves (touch). In addition, we always consider how we are a part of nature. This stimulation provides a great sense of perspective.
Freewriting. This is a crucial aspect of mind digging. When we are writing, we usually stop to analyze our writing, which puts us at high risk of judging our thoughts and, consequently, censoring them. We often censor them to protect ourselves from fear, embarrassment, or uncertainty about the truth of our lives. Freewriting is writing without stopping. It pushes us past that fear to the truth. Often, what comes out is a necessary surprise to the writer.
Life is a Continual Story. In a therapeutic writing workshop/private session, we are always working on the premise that life only moves forward. This means we acknowledge the past, but mostly focus on how it fits into the present. We do this in order to see the continuity of our lives. When we piece together our history with our present, we gain a better understanding of ourselves. This helps us in ongoing decision-making of any kind.
Privacy. I developed the trees&breathe method honouring the need for individual privacy. My belief is that if privacy is protected, then truth is more likely to emerge. When we remove the threat of embarrassment that may come with sharing, then we are often more comfortable with honesty.
Now that you’ve learned about five key aspects of my therapeutic writing method, you can see that it can be used as a clinical or self-help tool.
All of you need to do now, is see how it works for you!
Join my online therapeutic writing workshop to dig deeper into your thoughts, declutter your mind, and discover what’s keeping you back and how to move forward.
Write To The Root: My signature 6-week therapeutic writing workshop. The workshop is online, fully guided, inspired by nature, and private. This supportive setting allows you to safely declutter your thoughts and reveal your truths. Gaining clarity on the truths of your life helps you to increase self-awareness and sets you up for strong decision-making.
I offer my workshop four times a year, at the beginning of each season. We’re coming up to summer! Details about the workshop are on the trees&breathe website.
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I’d love for you to experience this comfortable and easy way to gain clarity in your life! Use code SUNSHINE for a 20% discount at checkout.