Writing, A Therapeutic Pleasure
Throughout our lives, we experience many feelings that need to be expressed, written down, and revealed to make words and sentences on paper.
Write if you feel bad, if you are sad, if you are happy, if your other half is gone, if a loved one has passed away.
Write and don’t stop until all the letters expressing your feelings and sensations are exhausted. Don’t think, just write.
Writing is therapy
A study carried out in 1999 in the United States by the American Medical Association analyzed the effect of writing on several patients suffering from different pathologies.
Patients with asthma then had better breathing levels and those with arthritis found their pain relieved. Thus, they were able to verify the positive effects of writing.
In June 2008, a study from the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management found that a group of cancer patients, who wrote for 20 minutes once a week about how the disease affected them, had a significant improvement in their health. emotional and that he felt a deep sense of well-being in reading their stories to others.
One of the great advocates of writing as therapy is Dr James Pennebaker, who, in his work Expresive Whriting: Words that heal , synthesized 4 tips for using l writing as therapy:
Ask yourself: how long have I felt this way?
If you automatically answer “for too long”, you need to seek help. And the first step can be to start writing.
Commit to writing 20 minutes for four consecutive days
Studies show that this time is enough to write a text on your concern and thus empty your bag.
Write without stopping
Don’t worry about the syntax, spelling, or meaning of what you write – nothing should stop you. It’s about freeing yourself from what you feel, letting your emotions fly away …
Try to write a text that connects several aspects of your life: work, emotional relationships, etc.
By describing in your words what concerns you in each aspect of your life, you will come to see the connection that can connect them.
The benefits of therapeutic writing
Writing offers unparalleled positive benefits in many ways. You will feel like you have freed yourself from everything that was bothering you, putting words into it, trying to figure it out and resolve it.
Here are some of the benefits of writing as therapy:
1.- Promotes creativity
Writing is a creative thing in itself, it helps us express ourselves better, look for new solutions, new ideas and helps us imagine and dream.
2.- Helps us to manage our emotions
When we write, we spill all of our emotions on paper. It is not uncommon for us to cry or laugh while writing.
However, what we convey through writing helps us deal with these emotions and learn to experience them from another point of view.
3.- Allows us to get to know each other better
What we write comes from the heart, from our innermost being. Thus, expressing what we feel in words allows us to know ourselves, to see how the circumstances of life affect us, to analyze this anger or this frustration that we feel. We can put a name on them and face them straight in the eye.
4.- Gives us the opportunity to share our feelings
What we write can stay for us or can be shown to other people, to share what we are feeling and what we have been through.
Showing what we have written allows for other perspectives, and then others can empathize with us.
Therapeutic writing techniques
The most important part of starting this writing therapy is to let your imagination run wild and follow these tips:
- Write for 20 minutes a day for four days.
- Write automatically without worrying about the meaning of your sentences, spelling, etc.
- You can write about the issues that concern you the most, or the areas in your life that seem to be the most important to you.
- Share what you have written with others or keep it to yourself, it doesn’t matter; but don’t stop writing.
- If there’s someone you need to sort out a problem with, write them a letter, even if you don’t send it, even if that person doesn’t read it.
And most importantly, write your story, give it a happy ending and live it.
