6 Tips for Healing Trauma with Spontaneous Writing

Through spontaneous writing with “loaded words” and person-to-person sharing, three women embarked on a transformative journey in which secretive and painful images and interpretations were exposed to the light, were accepted, and became less painful.

Liz Crocker and coauthors Polly Bennell and Holly Book curated a collection of their writings and created an invitation to others suffering in their book, Transforming Memories: Sharing Spontaneous Writing Using Loaded Words.

Whatever your past burdens, you can use the technique of spontaneous writing to address your own memories.

Transforming Memories is not just for children of alcoholics, but for anyone who has experienced challenges or trauma in their lives. Alcohol abuse in a family is not the only experience that sets up feelings of abandonment, fear, emptiness, or constant guardedness.

The healing effects of spontaneous writing are not trivial. In addition to offering emotional relief and a sense of burdens being lifted, there is growing evidence that translating stressful events into written language improves both brain and immune system functions.

Liz joins hosts Andrea and Lisa to discuss the book, as well as share six tips to heal trauma through spontaneous writing.

1. Sit down and write.
2. Overcome your need to be perfect.
3. Write about events you associate with stress or trauma.
4. Write continuously for a short period of time.
5. Use loaded words and phrases as writing prompts.
6. Establish a ritual around writing.