Editorial Review:

Heal Your Pain Now with Expressive Writing

What do diarists and journal writers know that can help anyone dealing with a traumatic or emotionally challenging situation recover from pain and regain their peace of mind?

They know that the act of putting thoughts and feelings on paper is, itself, a powerful exercise that makes them feel heard and acknowledged--a way of regaining perspective and control over the events that move through their lives.

In this book, the preeminent psychologist and researcher in the growing field of expressive emotions therapy, or EET, takes readers through a series of guided writing exercises that help them explore their feelings about difficult experiences. Each chapter begins with an introduction that explains how to proceed with the journal exercise and what it is structured to help accomplish. Readers are encouraged to do the exercise in the journal itself--each chapter provides plenty of ruled space--so that they can frequently refer to their own work and gain insight and clarity from their own words. The text offers encouragement and gentle advice for breaking through those inevitable moments when mental block make writing impossible; stream-of-consciousness and automatic writing clears away the obstacle and inspires the journal writer to even deeper levels of self-expression. The text stresses throughout the power for understanding and coping with difficult times that lies in storytelling, whether through fiction, dance, or art. In all, the exercises will leave readers with a strong sense of their value in the world and the ability to accept that which is sometimes hard to accept--that life can be good even when it is sometimes bad.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

good guide for working through feelings:

i didn't actually write in the book as i already had a journal that i use but i did read through the book and use the advice that was presented. i didn't follow every single exercise but i found this to be a valuable resource. i believe, as the author suggests, that there is healing through writing. i would suggest this book for those new to journaling as well as those that journal but want to get a different perspective on jounraling when going through a difficult life situation. this might be a nice gift... more info

Writing really does heal body and soul:

I was excited when I first found out about Dr. Pennebaker's amazing research showing that writing helped to heal phsycial as well as emotional distress and illnesses. It was so exciting that I investigated the research, downloaded his articles, and decided to write a book that talked about this research and how writing can be used to heal in Becoming Whole: Writing Your Healing Story. The wonderful thing about this kind of writing is that it seems to work whether you believe in it or not. Therapists and... more info

a valuable addition to journaling books:

I don't usually like books that tell you how to journal and then leave space to do so. However, as a psychotherapist, I admire the research of Pennebaker, and feel he provides validation for the healing power of journaling.
I would recommend this book and a few others, like Adams' "Journal to the Self" and the works of Capacchione to get yourself started on this process. Of course, there are probably a few hundred books on journaling that have been published in the last 30 years and it's always best... more info

Writing to Heal:

I found the exercises in this book easy to do. I also found it interesting that you were asked to limit the number of days you wrote. I guess I have a tendancy to want to dwell on things. Writing as I did, did seem to help me deal with the issue on which I focused. Pennebaker is a credible researcher and this approach is based on empirical study. I recommend it to others.

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