Writing for Mental Health: Part 1

Welcome to part 1 of a two-part mini-series focusing on writing for mental health. In this first part, I’ll be reflecting on how we can use writing to process our thoughts, feelings and experiences, and how we can do so in both public and private spheres. In the second part, I’ll share some of the practical ways that writing helps me to maintain good mental health.

Writing can be incredibly therapeutic, and it has the potential to enable us to process thoughts and feelings that may seem “unresolved” in some way*. We can adopt a variety of styles in our writing to help us to do this, and doing so regularly releases blocks that are getting in the way, and gives us an ongoing opportunity to connect with our creative cores.

I’ve been writing ever since I learned how to hold a pen, and it’s a constant that has helped me enormously with my own mental health. There are all sorts of forms of writing for our mental health that we can use, and in this post, I’ll share some of the key ones that help me.

Before we get into it, you may find it helpful to understand the distinction between ‘content’ and ‘process’ in a therapeutic sense. ‘Content’ in this context refers to the “what”, which includes any key facts around exactly what happened, who was there, etc. The ‘process’ is the “why”, and this could be around why we responded in a particular way, or why we’re left with certain feelings.

*Disclaimer: therapeutic writing is not a substitute or replacement for any kind of counselling, psychotherapy, mental health care, or clinical trauma treatment.

Processing key feelings and events

There are so many creative ways to use writing to process our feelings and significant events. We can do so privately with things like journalling that don’t need to be shared with anyone, and we can do so publicly with things like blogs and works of fiction that get published and put out into the world.

It’s very common for people to find it easier to process things by writing it down rather than talking about it (as a talking therapist, I’m aware of the irony!), and I wonder if this is partly due to feeling more detached from it once it’s written down. I often encourage clients who struggle to talk about what’s going on for them to see if writing it down helps, and I also invite them to share their writing with me if they feel that doing so would be helpful.

Journalling / freewriting

One of the most popular writing techniques that people use to process feelings and events is journalling and / or freewriting. We can journal by recording our daily lives and our reflections on what’s happened, or we might let go of following any particular structure and allow the words to flow freely in the form of freewriting.

You may have heard of the ‘Morning Pages’ technique that Julia Cameron encourages people following The Artists’ Way to use. The idea is that whether you want to improve your writing or release thoughts and feelings that you’re holding consciously or unconsciously, you can do this by dedicating the first part of your morning to writing your ‘Morning Pages’.

You write whatever comes into your head for 3 pages, no matter how random or weird it may be, and do this every day. People who commit to practicing this technique regularly often marvel about its efficacy, so it may be worth a go if you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed.

Blogging

The internet is a big, noisy place, but it also presents an amazing opportunity to connect with an audience that is genuinely interested in what you have to say. A blog can be a fantastic way to share your story and things that matter to you, whilst building a community around it.

You may be scared about the prospect of “putting yourself out there”, but there will always be people who need to read your words in your voice, and you never know who may benefit from it. It’s also important to remember that you can keep trying new things and see how it goes, which will help to build your confidence and keep your audience engaged.

Fiction

It’s not uncommon for writers to use fictionalised versions of their reality to create all sorts of written work. By framing a piece as a work of fiction, it’s easier to create an emotional distance from the content itself, which can help to process it in a more objective way.

Children instinctively create stories that are based on their real lives and feelings, and expressing them helps the child to process and release them. As we get older, we’re often discouraged from embracing this skill because it’s “silly” or “a waste of time”, or we “should be doing something more grown-up than this”. These types of messages can make it difficult to start writing stories again, but doing so anyway can help us to override them.

Memoir

A memoir is usually a piece of writing that focuses on a very specific event or period in the author’s life, rather than their full life story. The author may write in the present tense as a way of engaging the reader and drawing them into the action immediately. Alternatively, they may write in the past tense and share their reflections on what was going on for them at the time, and even what they might have done differently.

Memoirs are incredibly powerful pieces of writing, as they offer a deeply personal and emotive perspective on the subject matter. The audience is likely to connect with this form of writing in a very different way to any others, and may find the account shared relates to their own experiences. This can help them to feel part of a community, and therefore less alone with their “stuff”, which may enable them to process their own feelings in such a way as to let many of them go.

I hope that this post has given you some useful ideas about how to write therapeutically for mental health. Remember that this isn’t an exhaustive list, and that the possibilities are literally endless! I’d love to know if you write for your mental health, so feel free to connect with me and share if you’d like to.

As ever, if you’re struggling with your mental health and think I might be the therapist for you, there are a number of ways that you can get in touch with me about the possibility of working together. You can contact me using the form below, via email to emma@emmapooleytherapy.com, or find me on Facebook and Instagram @emmapooleytherapy.