The Benefits of Writing As A Therapeutic Tool
Many writers have felt the benefits of writing therapy for a long time. You can try it too and see how it changes your life. But what exactly is it?
Have you ever felt down, depressed, trapped in a rut, or just plain stressed out? Of course, everyone will answer "yes" to that question! We all experience setbacks and try to regain our equilibrium. Seeing a therapist can help some people regain their equilibrium. Others may be starting a new job or moving to a new location. For those who are more literary or artistic, getting better can start with art.
Drawing, listening to music, or dancing are all methods to include art in spiritual healing and emotional growth. These strategies can be beneficial for artists, but they can also help people without any artistic abilities. One of the most commonly used approaches in psychotherapy is writing. Writing therapy does not require you to be a skilled writer at all. All you need is some paper, a pen, and the will to write.
Psychological therapy treats a wide range of ailments and emotional concerns. Psychotherapists must be quite creative when selecting, designing, or changing therapeutic instruments. Each patient requires the appropriate type of therapy for their specific demands. Therapeutic tools are contextual, and therapists prescribe strategies for specific patients. To begin, psychologists advocate this strategy for patients who have sufficient reading and writing skills to complete the work successfully. In other words, they should be people who aren't afraid to write. Patients should also be able to write without feeling incompetent or inferior.
What is writing therapy?
Writing therapy, often known as journal therapy, is exactly what it sounds like therapeutic writing (typically in a journal). Writing therapy is a low-cost, widely available, and adaptable method of therapy. It can be done alone, with just paper and a pen, or with the assistance of a mental health professional. It can also be done in a group setting, with group discussions centered on writing. There are cases where it can even be used in conjunction with another type of therapy. Writing therapy, in whatever form it takes, can assist an individual in driving their growth, exercising creative expression, and gaining a sense of empowerment and control over their life.
It's easy to see therapeutic writing's potential. After all, poets and storytellers have captured and recounted the therapeutic feeling of putting pen to paper throughout history. Great literature from such poets and storytellers makes it easy to imagine that profound healing and personal progress may be attained by dedicating a few moments of scribbling daily.
Writing therapy varies from merely keeping a journal or diary in three major ways:
- Writing in a diary or journal is typically free-form, with the writer jotting down anything that comes to mind. Therapeutic writing is usually more focused on specific prompts or activities guided by a specialist.
- Writing in a diary or journal may focus on recording events as they happen, whereas writing therapy focuses on more meta-analytical processes, such as thinking about, interacting with, and evaluating the events, thoughts, and feelings the writer writes down.
- Keeping a diary or journal is inherently personal, whereas journal therapy is typically led by a qualified mental health practitioner.
What are its benefits?
Keeping a journal may be highly beneficial, whether it's to boost memory, record significant details from the day, or simply unwind at the end of a long day. While these are not insignificant gains, the advantages of writing therapy extend further and are more profound. Expressive writing targeted toward specific topics can have a significant healing effect on people who have been through a traumatic or extremely stressful event.
Some researchers have even proved that expressive writing may increase immune system function, yet the writing habit must be maintained for the health advantages to last. Aside from these more tangible benefits, regular therapeutic writing can help the writer discover meaning in their experiences, see things from a different perspective, and recognize the silver linings in even the most stressful or terrible circumstances. It can also lead to key insights about yourself and your surroundings that would otherwise be difficult to discern without dedicated writing.
Writing, whether on scraps of paper, in a diary, or as a file on your computer, can reveal things about yourself that you were unaware of. It can reveal what you want to improve, what is lacking in your life, or what you want to do more of. It can be liberating. It can be a relief. It can serve as a viable alternative to self-destructive behavior.
