The ‘Write’ Way to Heal
Ten practices for transforming emotional pain and re-authoring your life.
*Originally published in Psychology Today.
One of the most popular posts I’ve written for my Psychology Today blog, Soul Console, is “How to Make Writing a Sacred Practice With ‘Scriptio Divina.’” Scriptio divina is a modern twist on an ancient contemplative practice that can help to heal emotional, spiritual, or existential pain.
As I mentioned in that post, as both a writer and trauma researcher, I’m fascinated by the connection between writing (an act), healing (a process), and health (a state). For two upcoming books (one titled the same as this post and the other Holding Onto Air: The Art and Science of Building a Resilient Spirit), I explored 10 approaches to healing writing that have emerged in recent decades, one of which — embodied disclosure therapy (EDT) — I developed, specifically for moral injury; scriptio divina was another approach. It was a fascinating project that comprised extant writing therapies, evidenced-based models, and novel approaches, most of which could be done by oneself and a few that recommend oversight by a therapist. While there is overlap among them, there are also important differences. Here is a brief overview of each.
