Writing and Trauma — an Exercise in Healing
Posted on August 22, 2011
Baby Declan Jace
Little Declan Jace
I have friends, Jason and Kim, who just lost their baby boy, Declan Jace, yesterday. My heart grieves for them.
You see, they found Declan in his bed not breathing several days ago, rushed him to the hospital, and the terrible saga began.
“How does this relate to writing?” you might ask.
Right after finding Declan, Jason and Kim created a Facebook group to keep all of their friends abreast of the developments. Over the past few days, they journaled Declan’s status and their family’s ups and downs regarding the incident, and ultimately Declan’s untimely and tragic death, through detailed posts.
All this relates to writing and how it can help heal those who experience tragedy and trauma in their lives.
Healing Through Writing
After doing an Internet search on the term “healing through writing,” I found a goldmine of relative and expert sources that support the notion that writing helps people heal from trauma/tragedy. They all say it’s therapeutic.
Some of the sites that articulated it best are as follows:
- Kaiser Permanente — Health Systems post — Healing Through the Written Word.
- Read My Story blog — Healing Through Writing.
- One Year of Writing and Healing blog — the entire blog
- Cinco Vidas blog — Can We Find Healing Through Writing?
There are many others that offer excellent information and advice on the topic, too. I suggest you do the search and check them all out.
Although Jason and Kim are in shock after saying goodbye to their baby boy yesterday, they continue to share their thoughts. They probably will for several days until after Declan’s memorials services.
The experts I found believe that doing this promotes healing in our emotions and even in our physical bodies. The words written on paper give voice to the experience and set us free to live, instead of staying in that place where the tragedy occurred.
The words help us move on. Not that we lose sight of the pain or the loss, but, instead, we learn to embrace the emotions of that moment, to experience every aspect of it … and allow us permission to eventually move on.
Right now, I believe the posts that Jason and Kim are sharing are a healthy expression of their emotions and have become an inspiration to others. It may also be that others are experiencing healing in reading the posts and sharing their own stories in the thread.
Jason, Baby Declan and Kim
I believe Jason and Kim are a great example of how writing can be used as a tool for healing.
The Challenge
Most of the people I know have experienced a tragedy or two in their lifetimes. Most of the audience reading this is made up of writers.
My challenge to each of you who have a traumatic memory or have experienced tragedy is to sit down, make an outline of the timeline of the trauma/tragedy and write a paper about it. You don’t even have to share it with anyone — just write it.
Below is a sample outline:
- Life before the trauma/tragedy
- The trauma/tragedy — events surround it — what precipitated it (if anything) and what actually occurred
- Life following the trauma/tragedy — how it impacted/changed your life
- How you responded to the change — positive and negative
- Summary of how you’ve healed from it — if not yet healed, your discovery of that and your next steps/goals to arrive at healing
Keep in mind, this is just a sample.
This YouTube video provides some good pointers for getting the emotions down on paper.
In writing an expression of your trauma/tragedy, please say a prayer for my friends, Jason and Kim, that they will be strong through this most difficult of times.
Please share with us your stories and what steps you took to heal from the trauma/tragedy.
Writing 4 Effect 
cspeno
August 22, 2011
Sherry
A beautiful story and a wonderful post. This is great advice and I will add a little more to the value of therapeutic writing.
I also went through some tragedy several years back, and I found that yes, writing through the experience while traveling through the different emotions was comforting, but even more comforting was to go back and re-read those writings a year later, two years later, etc When you do that you can reflect and really see how you heal and have been able to move on with your life. This gives you peace.
I wish Jason and Kim healing and strength through their writing and the circle of friends and family that will most definitely embrace them through this difficult time.
Writing4Effect
August 22, 2011
Hi, Christine, you always provide helpful advice and wisdom in your comments and this one is no different. I think you mentioned one of the most critical aspects of “writing through the experience:” reading back through the writings. Excellent point. You write through the experience, capture it in time and reflect on it years later. Peace. That’s the goal. And thank you for the well wishes to Jason and Kim. I’ll pass them along.
Samantha Bangayan
August 22, 2011
This is so, so true, Sherry! It’s why journaling is often implemented or prescribed as therapy. The exercise you propose in your challenge is a really good one. I’ve been learning more and more about stories these days and one of the most important things I’ve learned is that the process of writing or putting together our personal story is a process of self-knowledge and understanding. It allows us to make decisions more consciously.
I think I’m going to take you on for that challenge because it would be a good way to get a biography going! =) Thanks, Sherry!
Writing4Effect
August 23, 2011
I can certainly see why, Sam. It appears there’s something freeing about expressing ourselves in the written word. That’s an interesting comment about writing allowing “us to make decisions more consciously.” I love that explanation! There must be a process our intellect undertakes when we write out of our emotions or just journal about our lives that helps us make more conscious decisions. It’s like we become more intellectually aware of our surroundings and who we are, and and more informed in some ethereal way that translates into more rounded decisions. I can see how that can happen. Hey, I’m so glad you’re taking up the challenge and nothing would give me more pleasure than to see you begin that biography — 😉