Expressive Writing for Mental Wellness

Words as medicine

Sometimes writing helps us explore what we can’t say out loud and offers opportunities for powerful healing. Metaphor, journaling, storytelling…these all can be effective strategies in therapy to process our experiences, explore our perspective and develop self-awareness.

Have you heard of the term poetry therapy? It is not only about reading or writing poems. In fact, humans talk in poetry. Often we don’t speak in complete sentences and paragraphs. We think in phrases, without grammatically correct editing.

What is Poetry Therapy?

• Poetry therapy is the written aspect within the arena of expressive arts therapies that include art, dance, movement, imagery, play, and nature.
• It is the use of language, symbol, and story in therapeutic, educational, growth, and community building capacities.
• It relies upon the use of poems, stories, song lyrics, imagery, and metaphor to facilitate personal growth, healing, and greater self-awareness.
• Includes reading, writing, journal keeping, and storytelling

If you say, “I can’t write poems.”

1. Anything can be poetry
   There are no rules about what makes poems. Sure, there are some poems that follow a specific structure, but a poem at its essence is just a collection of words.
2. A poem can be a single sentence!

3 major components of poetry therapy:

Receptive/Proscriptive

Utilizing a poem or piece of writing and reflecting on the thoughts and feelings this elicits. It could be a topic that has been explored in therapy, or could be a tool to introduce a concept that someone is interested in processing.

Expressive/Creative

The process in which an individual creates the writing themselves. This could be via journaling, writing prompts, letters, or anything involving creative writing. Sometimes, a poem could be introduced and a line of the poem might be taken as inspiration for the title of a creative writing piece. 

Symbolic/Ceremonial

This is the use of metaphors, storytelling and ritual for change. For example, writing on rocks and sharing these or releasing a leaf into a river and watching is float away to symbolize releasing control, are ways to embody this approach of poetry therapy. Metaphor uses figurative language for highly complex emotional experiences, as external imagery or concepts can validate the dimensional nature of challenging life moments.

Examples of Metaphors: 

• Grief comes in waves. Some are huge and knock you over, some you didn’t even see coming. 
• This relationship is a rollercoaster
• My friend was like this cozy warm blanket I needed. Right there offering comfort 
• My life is the darkest tunnel. I can’t even see my hands in front of me and have no idea how to navigate when darkness is so thick that you can’t even see who you are. 
• That fight was a volcanic eruption 

How is expressive writing helpful? 

• Journaling, poems and reading can be a great springboard for discussion
• Sometimes it’s hard to put words to verbalizing a circumstance but imagery and metaphor can speak to it
• Writing gives voice to interpersonal issues that might be embarrassing, shame filled, or hard to talk about 
• Creative writing promotes self-reflection
• It can open up our perspective with new ways of seeing something 
• Validation of our experiences can come from seeing and hearing someone else having written about something. We can feel seen in the way someone else describes an experience we are having

Strategies to try:

Buy a journal 

• consider this a tool for processing. Start simple. 
• Try making a list of 3 things from any of the categories below and then write briefly on how you felt about these things.
  
  • Things on your mind
  • Things you are grateful for
  • Things that embodied intention in your day
  • Questions you have for people
  • Moments that shaped your day

Letter writing

• To other people with things you would like to say (that you don’t intend to send)
• To your past or future self about concepts you would like to share with them
• To a specific emotion you are feeling (anger, resentment, sadness, isolation)

Dialogue

• A script between two different people or concepts
• Write about an issue you would like to process through with someone, considering what you might say
• Create a discussion between your head and heart around a circumstance in your life
• Develop an exchange between 2 emotions you are experiencing 
• Maybe there is something that you want to process through with another person and it would be helpful to write out both what you might say, as well as what they might say. Or what if you wrote about what your head might say to heart about any issue.

Perspective

• Write from an emotion’s point of view
  
  • Make a list of emotions and then choose 1. Have this emotion be the writer and try out the prompt, “I want to say…”

Additional information about poetry therapy can be found through The National Association for Poetry Therapy at www.poetrytherapy.org. If you are interested in having partnership through your expressive writing journey for mental wellness, feel free to reach out to us at Becoming Together to integrate this modality into your therapeutic emotional healing.