Writing Activities for Emotional Trauma

Writing About Trauma May Help

Those who suffer emotional trauma as a result of a major life change, accident or other problem, may want to seek forms of help that utilize creativity rather than or in conjunction with medication or therapy. According to an October, 2009 article in "Psychology Today": "Making these traumatic events more coherent makes memories of these events less likely to be repeatedly called to mind, and so they can be laid to rest."

Writing Activities To Help Emotional Trauma

Writing Your Feelings Is Healthy

An Oct. 20, 2009 "Psychology Today" article outlined a therapy procedure in which patients wrote about their emotional traumas for three consecutive days. The patients found that they were able to confront their issues better than those who did not write about the problematic events and thoughts.

You can use a journal to write about problems and memories. Consulting it on a daily basis can be very cleansing, since it helps release persistent, painful thoughts. Making sure to sit down and write for a certain amount of time each day can help you face your feelings. You can return to it every day for a specific amount of time in order to document their feelings. Setting up a schedule can help. Designating use of the journal for one straight week and a half-hour per day can be useful.

Write Your Feelings And Let Them Go

Writing All

According to the James W. Pennebaker's "The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story," writing about a traumatizing event for as little as 15 to 20 minutes per day can help ease suffering. The book states that the act of writing releases stress and buffers the immune system because of its act of release.

Another activity that may help those suffering goes a step beyond keeping a journal. A person can write on notebook paper a few minutes every day for a set period of time. Then, at the end of the week or after a few days of very honest writing, the person can collect all of the pieces of paper and destroy them either by throwing them out, shredding them or letting them go in nature. This act of release helps people say goodbye to their traumatic memories.

Drawing photos or pasting photos onto these stories may also provide a way to release negative memories.

Writing Letters

Writing Letters To People You Cannot Might Help

Writing letters to the people who have caused pain, people who should be forgiven or to people who should provide forgiveness is a great way to confront others who are no longer able to be reached because of death or distance.

According to the Amends Project, writing letters can be a great form of healing. It allows the writer to forgive people, ask for forgiveness or simply tell someone something that they have not and feel they should. The site, amendsproject.com, welcomes a user to share his painful past and discuss the power of forgiveness through letters.

Sit down and make a list of people that you want to contact for whatever reason. Write them an honest letter that expresses all feelings and ideas. Sending the letter may not even be necessary. Simply keeping it, destroying it or reading it aloud may help relieve the burden of the thoughts.

References

• "The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story"; James W. Pennebaker; 2004
• Trauma and The Benefits of Writing About It
• Amends Project

Resources

• Psychology Resources