Writing as therapy

Counseling and Human Development, Jan 1999 by Adams, Kathleen

The antidote for both mania and depression is to help clients find ways to build in structure, pacing and containment (see Table 1). The potential beneficial outcomes of morning pages do not have to be sacrificed. Suggest to your client that he or she postpone writing for an hour after awakening, or write fewer pages, or balance the "first voice" with an intentional shift to the voice of the emerging self.

SEVEN TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS FOR THERAPISTS

At this point, I offer seven troubleshooting tips for the therapist.

1. Don't confuse the product with the process. Although almost all writing that comes from an authentic place is effective and even beautiful, therapeutic writing does not place inherent value on "good" writing. A client is better served when the therapist rewards process and therapeutic outcome rather than lyrical, descriptive, or well crafted product. This approach also troubleshoots any tendency on the client's part to take the focus off of authentic expression in favor of the secondary gain of positive reinforcement for creative talent or technical skill.

2. Manage your countertransference. Because journals are inherently private, the risk of voyeurism is present when given access to another's most intimate thoughts and feelings. Monitor your own curiosity factor.

3. Be careful with nondominant-hand writing. This seemingly benign technique can be a wild card. According to Capacchione (1988), the nondominant hand is "hard-wired" to the nondominant hemisphere of the brain, which, for approximately 90% of North Americans, is the right brain. The right brain "specializes" in visual/spatial perception, emotional expression, and intuitive abilities. When used appropriately, therefore, writing with the nondominant hand may offer quick and easy access to feelings, intuition, wisdom, and insight.

When I was working with adult survivors of childhood sexual trauma, I heard many stories of the shadow side of nondominant-hand writing. Writing with the nondominant hand may be effective in accessing whatever is repressed or held at a lessthan-conscious level of the mind. In dozens of cases, clients reported flooding of raw primary process material when they attempted to use nondominanthand writing to access the voice of the "inner child." For many, this technique represented the first time they had active recall of sexual trauma from childhood. Treat nondominant-hand writing with respect, and review the anchors of structure, pacing, and containment with your clients before suggesting this powerful but unpredictable technique.

4. Give permission. In writing, as in therapy, one size does not fit all. Be skeptical of any program of journalkeeping or proponent of journal therapy that insists on a "right" way, method, technique, or style that will work for everyone. None exists. Extend permission and encouragement to experiment with variables such as techniques, times of day, topics, and length of writings until they develop a natural rhythm and journal style.