Writing for Your Health
Writing for Your Health is a highly accessible, research-based method that facilitates and supports health and resilience. Describing one’s experience in specific and authentic ways—combining the power of the mind-body connection with the narrative tool—allows a person to attend to their emotional, spiritual, and psychological well being.
Writing for Your Health can benefit those living with terminal or debilitating illness, trauma survivors, people dealing with grief or the end of life journey, caregivers, as well as people fielding the everyday challenges of life. Writing for Your Health workshops guide participants through a range of writing exercises that they can also utilize on their own, as needed. These writing practices allow people to:
• Articulate personal strengths and core values; define a vision for their future
• Undergo catharsis after a traumatic, emotional and/or pivotal incident
• Consider, confront and manage unfinished business
• Identify feelings and insights from a challenging experience
• Convert an undefined and unspoken belief into a clearly articulated one
• Integrate traumatic events into the larger context of life
• Forge a new personal narrative that is layered, wholistic and coherent
• Decide to undertake a major change and set action steps to reach a goal
Writing for Your Health is similar to, but is Not Journaling
Expressive, affirmative, mindful, poetic, legacy, and transactional are types of writing that can be used to promote health. Writing for Your Health is related to, but is not the same as journaling. Researchers in the field have shown that complaining and ruminating about one’s circumstances, in writing, brings little to no health advantages and can be harmful.
The power of the narrative tool derives from its ability to transform complicated, disconnected, painful facts into a comprehensible, cohesive and meaningful story. Among other benefits, this story requires less energy to carry around in one’s mind and body, leaving more energy for healing and living.
To learn more about Writing for Your Health workshops, please email.
Writing for Your Health can benefit those living with terminal or debilitating illness, trauma survivors, people dealing with grief or the end of life journey, caregivers, as well as people fielding the everyday challenges of life. Writing for Your Health workshops guide participants through a range of writing exercises that they can also utilize on their own, as needed. These writing practices allow people to:
• Articulate personal strengths and core values; define a vision for their future
• Undergo catharsis after a traumatic, emotional and/or pivotal incident
• Consider, confront and manage unfinished business
• Identify feelings and insights from a challenging experience
• Convert an undefined and unspoken belief into a clearly articulated one
• Integrate traumatic events into the larger context of life
• Forge a new personal narrative that is layered, wholistic and coherent
• Decide to undertake a major change and set action steps to reach a goal
Writing for Your Health is similar to, but is Not Journaling
Expressive, affirmative, mindful, poetic, legacy, and transactional are types of writing that can be used to promote health. Writing for Your Health is related to, but is not the same as journaling. Researchers in the field have shown that complaining and ruminating about one’s circumstances, in writing, brings little to no health advantages and can be harmful.
The power of the narrative tool derives from its ability to transform complicated, disconnected, painful facts into a comprehensible, cohesive and meaningful story. Among other benefits, this story requires less energy to carry around in one’s mind and body, leaving more energy for healing and living.
To learn more about Writing for Your Health workshops, please email.
Connect
ihc@scadronihealth.com
