What is Therapeutic Writing?
Therapeutic creative writing is a form of expressive therapy that uses the act of writing and processing the written word in clinical interventions for healing and personal growth. It offers personal, explorative and expressive processes, similar to creative writing’s first stages. Patients, clients, tutees and students are offered guidance and inspiration by a clinician, facilitator or creative writer, and support in choosing a subject and form. It emphasizes meta-analytical processes, encouraging individuals to think about, interact with, and analyze their thoughts and feelings rather than simply recording events. Therapeutic writing can be practiced individually, in groups, or as a supplement to other forms of therapy and can be done in person or remotely through various mediums. Therapeutic writing can help people understand themselves better, and deal with depression, distress, anxiety, addiction, fear of disease, treatment and life changes and losses such as illness, job loss, marital breakdown and bereavement.
As for the writers, there is no specific “type” of person who can or cannot write; some thrive with encouragement and structured exercises, while others prefer different forms of creative expression like singing, acting, or painting. Some may choose not to engage in art at all, and that is valid too. The book Write Yourself highlights how writing can be an effective tool for managing depression, anxiety, and other personal struggles, offering support to individuals and groups of all ages, whether in person or online. Many people in distress find comfort in writing, overcoming initial fears of disclosure or self-doubt because their need for expression outweighs any apprehension. Once past the first hesitation, they often embrace writing as a patient and nonjudgmental audience, allowing them to process emotions safely. However, not everyone finds solace in writing. Some feel more secure keeping their thoughts and emotions private, and forcing the process would be ineffective. The most we can do is present writing as a sincere and open invitation—those who are ready will embrace it, and for those who aren’t, the offer itself is still an act of support and understanding.
Writing provides simple, quiet, private, focused, recorded forms of reflection, of paying proper attention to one’s own self. Any issue can potentially be shared relatively fearlessly with a piece of paper because it will never get bored, angry, distressed or shocked, and its potential impeccable memory is impersonal. By the means ‘potential’ as writing can be ripped up, burned, flushed away: creating it will have helped without rereading. Writing can be read and reflected upon, perhaps developed, redrafted, perhaps later shared with a trusted confidential other, or group. Writing’s privacy makes it qualitatively different from conversation, which will be remembered idiosyncratically: interlocutors cannot be asked to forget what they have heard.
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Writing uses words, our everyday communicating medium. Requiring only basic literacy skills, paper and pencil, writing is simple and cheap. While some may hesitate due to past negative experiences with grammar and structure, starting small—one word at a time—can ease the process. Encouragement and a nonjudgmental approach help foster confidence, making writing a private and personal exploration rather than a task with expectations. Even choosing not to write is valid; it simply means the time isn’t right. Starting to write is enjoyable, with initial unassuming steps. Many find lists or letters a good opener. Encouragement and support are helpful, especially initially, as is empathetic interest combined with lack of surprise, shock or untoward interest at anything written or divulged. Even writing nothing is not a failure, but an indication that the time is not right, or that writing is not for them. Key to success is perceiving it as flexible, versatile, straightforward, enjoyable and private. And with no purpose other than personal exploration and expression. For those facing illness, anxiety, or grief, writing provides a safe, patient space to express emotions without burdening others. The blank page does not judge or interrupt, allowing thoughts to unfold freely. As one teenage cancer patient wrote, “The more I think about these little things that make me happy, the more determined I get not to let this illness take these things away from me.” Writers control their narratives, pausing or shifting focus when needed. Some emotions may feel too overwhelming to address immediately but can surface in writing when the time is right. While writing can be therapeutic, those with significant psychological distress should seek professional support alongside it. Writing is a tool for self-exploration and healing, but it is not a substitute for clinical care.
Every creative or therapeutic writing begins with 6 minutes free writing. Facing a blank page can be intimidating, but free writing helps get past that initial hesitation. It allows thoughts to flow onto the page, temporarily organizing the mental clutter that can otherwise feel overwhelming. Unexpected insights and inspirations may emerge, providing material for further exploration. The key is to write without forethought, planning, or concern for grammar and structure. Writers can then fruitfully move on to any of the following.
List
Lists seem undemanding, everyday, very useful with new writers. No sentences, no paragraphs, and the form is all middle with no beginning and end.
Description
Describing accurately helps focus attention on detail and nuance, a cornerstone of living writing. Exactly why something is liked, the quality of the cat’s purr and just how she curls on my lap can be supportively enjoyable.
Narrative
Humans are narrative-making creatures; creating stories is our way of making sense of things. Illness, bereavement and loss can disrupt understanding of life, its hitherto habitual story. People naturally wish to recount personal troubles, doing so with little encouragement. Writing can get this off the chest to a reliable audience.
Image and Metaphor
A staple of poetry and prose, metaphor focuses upon significance: what things mean to us, remind us of and what they stand for in our own particular universe. Writers also focus on the thingness of things; they can carefully observe and describe a red rose: perfume, velvet petals, shape, form, thorns, intense colour, even taste.
Forms of Writing
All the above methods can be used in journal, story, poetry, blog, zine or autobiographical writing.
Journal
Journals can contain ‘splurge’, moans and complaints, cathartic outbursts, or any other required form. Entries require no beginning and end. A journal is all middle, and therefore can be picked up and put down at any time or in mid sentence
Poetry
Poetry’s short lines and succinctness can contain great feeling and it is often written at a time of emotional need; it can be easy to write as grammar, spelling and use of English can be innovative and creative. Another way of defusing anxiety about poetry is to define it as writing which doesn’t reach the right-hand page margin.
Blog
Many find sharing experiences, thoughts, feelings and anxieties with an unknown public helpful. Some blogs have interactive pages where readers can post responses or similar experiences, writing anonymously
Zine
Homemade magazines distributed to family and friends, zines give a voice to those who feel under-represented in the media. Offering all the benefits of communicating, of not being alone, they are a tangible product, unlike blogs (Flood 2008), encouraging doodling and cutting and pasting accompanying visual images.
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Values and Principles
Expressive, explorative, and reflective writing requires courage, trust in the process, and respect for oneself as a writer. Unlike spoken arguments, where memories shift over time, writing remains a fixed record—something to be revisited, reshaped, or even rewritten to explore different perspectives. This flexibility makes writing a powerful tool for self-exploration, unlike recorded conversations, which remain static. Writing is a deeply personal act; it can be kept private, shared selectively, or even destroyed for therapeutic release. A journal is a space where one can write freely—without judgment, rules, or constraints. Engaging in this practice is an act of self-respect, offering oneself the time, space, and permission to listen to inner thoughts without fear. One therapeutic writer reflected that this process helped them “consider and appreciate the value and quality” of their life and experiences. Writing, in essence, is a gift we give to ourselves.
This can reduce self-consciousness, allowing writers to tap into their strong, wise, creative sides. Although possibly initially unclear or lacking in understanding, we are the world’s best authorities on our own experience and so cannot write wrongly about it. Writers who trust they will not be laughed at, despised, disbelieved or shouted at by the paper enable the expression of experiences, thoughts and feelings difficult or even impossible to share directly with another. Willingness to explore beliefs, actions, values and identity is respect for personal integrity. Writing can give confidence that we have something vital to communicate, and can say it well, enhanced by knowing it is only for us to read, at least initially: there is no teacher-reader waiting to correct.
Writers are fully responsible for everything they write and their response to it, even when facilitated. They have full authority over our writing at every stage, including rereading to ourselves and possibly sharing with confidential, trusted readers. Writing fiction can, for example, offer significant insight. They willingly give energy, time and commitment to those with whom they work, and to our own personal and professional development in a spirit of enquiry. This giving enables them to gain inspiration and experience from others, and from their own enhanced self-understanding. Any feeling can be explored within the privacy of writing, both for cathartic release, and in order to understand and discover appropriate ways to act in the future. Writers can express and explore a range of memories, thoughts and feelings, yet still retain positive regard for these other people. Writing can even enhance positive regard by shedding light on negative experiences.
The Relationship of Therapeutic Writing to Creative or Literary Writing
Therapeutic writing, often referred to as “night writing” by Greer, is deeply personal, meant primarily for the writer’s own reflection. It is a raw, private process—sometimes even the writer struggles to fully understand their words. Many creative writers engage in this kind of writing, and traces of it can sometimes be found in published works. However, literary writing undergoes extensive redrafting to refine raw emotions into structured narratives. Readers of literature seek compelling stories or insights, not the writer’s personal catharsis.
In contrast, therapeutic writing is valued precisely because of its personal nature. It exists for self-exploration, not for an audience. Readers of therapeutic writing—such as facilitators or trusted confidants—are invested in the writer’s personal growth, making the experience intimate and meaningful. Most therapeutic writers do not focus on editing or publication, but refining personal writing can sometimes help process emotions more clearly. Unlike literature, which follows conventions to enhance communication, therapeutic writing is unrestricted by formal rules. Personal blogs and zines, often informal and intimate, occupy a middle ground—potentially reaching wide audiences but usually resonating with a small, understanding readership. In conclusion, while therapeutic writing is primarily focused on healing and introspection through structured exercises, creative writing seeks to craft original works with artistic merit. Both approaches highlight the transformative power of words but serve different purposes in the realms of mental health and literature.
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