Therapeutic Writing
Already from childhood, many children begin to write our little secrets in journals. The need to put thoughts in writing is born very early and is highly positive. The benefits of therapeutic writing are multiple, it organizes ideas helping to make decisions and minimizes stress, since writing is similar to speaking. And it serves as an outlet.
It is always better to talk and bring out negative feelings and experiences. But sometimes it just isn’t possible. Either because we did not decide to go to a psychology professional or we do not have trustworthy people who can understand us. This is when writing can become a process of therapeutic improvement.
It should never be a substitute for speaking, but if it is not possible for any reason, writing is a good option. In addition, writing makes negativity come out, which, in the case of not writing or speaking it, would stay inside and harm you. In addition, after time it usually comes out abruptly, in the form of anxiety, stress or illness.
There are countless cases of inner tensions that turn into physical pain. Such as headaches, migraines, distorted eyesight, back pain, stomach problems, high or low blood pressure, palpitations, dizziness, etc.
For this reason, it is important that each person express in some way the problems they have in their daily life and bring out everything that they carry inside. In the long run, if we keep negativities to ourselves, they will somehow come out in the form of physical discomfort. It is the so-called psychosomatization.
How to carry out therapeutic writing
Therapeutic writing is writing without worrying about aesthetics. The grammar and the form of expression, in these cases, have to take care of them, but they are the least of it. In fact, if we are careful that it is written in a correct way, it will not work. We are not going to show it or publish it. Therefore, the only important thing is to let everything come out naturally.
As you write, you go through different emotional states. And it’s good to unleash those emotions and express them as they come, without fear.
If we have stops where we do not know what to say we could be blocked. Often, it depends on the situation we have been through, the mind resists expressing things because it tries to protect us from the pain caused by remembering the event. Given this, you have to be patient and insist several days in a row to continue completing the writing.
The good thing about therapeutic writing is that there are no restrictions. Many times, when we have to tell a problem to someone we trust, we leave things behind out of shame or fear. But in writing we are alone with ourselves and we know that once we finish writing, no one will see it because we will erase it or tear the paper.
It is not necessary to save these writings to reread them, it is recommended that once written we get rid of the text, since, rereading it could mess us up instead of helping us. Each feeling expressed is part of a moment of emotional boiling, so it cannot be taken as valid for other days. In writing, it would be positive to analyze how the negative event affected us at the time and how we feel now, thus differentiating that they are different stages, we can see if an improvement occurs.
Writing cannot always help. Like everything, it depends on how it is applied and if the person has the ability to help himself.
There may be cases of people who have used writing to delve deeper into the negative and regret over and over again what happened. Blaming himself, hopeless and sinking deeper. In these cases, writing can be a bad practice, because the person does not advance or learn from mistakes, they limit themselves to writing the negative life they had and there is no room for growth or hope.
To detect whether it is therapeutic writing or not, it is important to analyze what feelings we had the first two or three days of writing and what feelings we have in the present. They have improved? Is there room for hope? Do we see the future positively? If not, we would need outside help to close the negative stage and start moving forward with hope.
