It's Grief Awareness Week. Let's Use Expressive Writing for Emotional Healing.
It's Grief Awareness Week. Let's Use Expressive Writing for Emotional Healing.
Join me Saturday Dec. 9 from 9a-12p (CST) at The Infinity Foundation (in-person or via Zoom). Can't make it live? Register anyway, and you'll receive the recording.
Join me as I teach Expressive Writing for Emotional Healing on Saturday, December 9th from 9a-12p (Central) at The Infinity Foundation in Highland Park, Illinois. The class will be offered in-person and via Zoom. If you can’t make it live, please register anyway, and you’ll receive a recording to watch at your convenience.
Expressive Writing
Expressive writing is an evidence-based technique that helps relieve the pain of difficult emotions. Effective processing helps you get unstuck so you can live your life in the present moment. Processing the experiences of overwhelm, trauma, or other difficulties in healthy ways is important for your wellbeing.
Practice expressive writing to resolve your most troubling memories. Develop a framework of language that helps move unresolved thoughts out of your head and onto the page.
Discover a therapeutic use for writing as you:
Identify one challenging personal memory to work with in class
Understand the importance of processing
Explore the history of expressive writing
Read an example and practice digesting your own memory through this technique
Write your way to effective emotional healing. Have writing materials available to use during class.
Grief and how it shows up…
According to the Cleveland Clinic:
Grief is the experience of coping with loss. Most of us think of grief as happening in the painful period following the death of a loved one. But grief can accompany any event that disrupts or challenges our sense of normalcy or ourselves. This includes the loss of connections that define us.
For example, you may grieve the loss of:
A friend, family member, partner or pet.
A marriage, friendship or another form of kinship.
Your home, neighborhood or community.
Your job or career.
Financial stability.
A dream or goal.
Good health.
Your youth.
Fertility.
You may also grieve your own loss of life as you prepare for death. For instance, people diagnosed with terminal illnesses often grieve no longer having the time to experience or achieve things they would’ve liked to.
There are multiple ways to experience grief, including:
—Anticipatory grief (grieving before the actual loss)
—Abbreviated grief (short-lived grief, often following anticipatory grief)
—Delayed grief (experiencing the emotions that accompany grief days, weeks or even months later)
—Inhibited grief (repressing emotions, which often leads to feeling the emotions of grief as physical symptoms like an upset stomach, insomnia, anxiety, or even panic attacks)
—Cumulative grief (working through multiple and/or complex losses)
—Collective grief (grieving that occurs as a shared experience, often with circumstances like wars, natural disasters, school shootings, and pandemics)
Register Now
Expressive Writing for Emotional Healing will be taught live (in-person) at The Infinity Foundation in Highland Park, IL. You can also choose to attend via Zoom (you’ll be emailed a Zoom link closer to the time of the class). The course will be recorded, so if you can’t attend live on 12/9, you’ll receive a link to watch it later at your convenience.
Course 233151 | Live | Zoom | Hybrid | 3 CEUs
Date Saturday, December 9
Time 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM CST
Cost $45
Register Now: http://bit.ly/46JwNP9
FAQ
Q: What is expressive writing?
A: Expressive Writing is an evidence-based tool to help process thoughts and feelings related to a personally stressful or traumatic experience.
Q: I’m not a masochist! Why would I want to dredge up painful memories and write about them?
A: Thousands of research studies have proven that expressive writing improves physical health, emotional health, and interpersonal wellbeing.
Q: How does bringing up painful memories help me?
A: Expressive writing is a tool that helps us translate distressing thoughts, emotions, and memories into language, and the ensuing benefits are profound. By holding onto and managing distressful emotions, we sleep less and drain our emotional batteries. But, when we take the time to process these difficult experiences through brief writing sprints, we move these thoughts and feelings out of our minds and onto the page — where we can see them and work to find meaning. In doing so, we lighten our emotional load and create more space for self-compassion and healthy social interactions.
Q: Do I have to be good at writing to practice expressive writing?
A: No. I began expressive writing when I was in grade school, and I sure didn’t understand how to write back then. You don’t need to know proper grammar or spelling. You don’t need to write neatly or professionally. You don’t have to show your writing to anyone. This is solely for you and your wellbeing.
Q: Will I get upset when I practice expressive writing?
A: Everyone’s reaction to an expressive writing session is unique. Depending on the circumstances and how long you’ve been holding memories inside, your experience may range anywhere from overwhelming to empowering.
Think about this: If you go see a sad movie, you might feel briefly overwhelmed by emotion and/or sadness, but those feelings don’t last forever. That’s how expressive writing can be; you may experience a temporary sense of emotional intensity, but the benefits tend to outweigh this discomfort. Once we give ourselves permission to put our feelings into words, our thoughts hold far less power over us. I’ve personally found that, whenever I’m deeply distressed and/or unable to stop that “endless thought loop” in my mind, a brief expressive writing exercise helps me reset and regain a sense of control and calm.
About Christine Wolf
Hi. I’m Christine. I’m an author, memoir coach, journalist, and expressive writing evangelist. In 2023, I founded Write to Heal Retreats, and I run Writers’ Haven LLC — offering writing coaching and cooperative workspaces for women writers. Thanks for reading. I really look forward to connecting with you.
Questions? Get in touch at www.christinewolf.com/contact