How to Use Writing Therapy to Release Negative Emotions and Trauma

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat to Know About Writing TherapyThe Major Benefits of Writing TherapyHow to Get Started With Expressive Writing

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

What to Know About Writing Therapy

The Major Benefits of Writing Therapy

How to Get Started With Expressive Writing

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Every Friday onThe Verywell Mind Podcast, host Minaa B., a licensed social worker, mental health educator, and author of “Owning Our Struggles,” interviews experts, wellness advocates, and individuals with lived experiences about community care and its impact on mental health.

Putting pen to paper feels a bit like an anomaly in a world obsessed with texting, tweeting, and sliding into people’s DMs. But let’s try something different. The next time you’re in your Notes app, give your thumbs a break and grab a pen and piece of paper instead. If you don’t have any paper handy, grab that Starbucks receipt and start writing whatever you were about to type. See how it feels.

It might feel a bit awkward at first, especially if you haven’t had to physically write anything down in a long while. But as you keep writing, you may feel really engaged with the words you’re jotting down. Tapping letters on a screen isn’t the same as drawing out each letter of every word. Writing things down will inherently bond you to the words you write. And because of that,writing becomes quite powerful for the psyche. Aside from being a feel-good activity,writing can also let us process negative emotions and traumain what turns out to be a pretty soul-cleansing experience.

In fact, singer/songwriter and season three winner of The Voice,Cassadee Pope, seconds this. Pope, who’s been in the music industry since she was 11 years old, has been pretty open about her mental health struggles—from bad breakups to the emotional impact of her parent’s divorce. Pope toldMinaa B., LMSW, host of The Verywell Mind Podcast, “I needed an outlet with everything that was happening with my family. So that was really what I leaned on most, was songwriting.”

Now, you don’t have to be a gifted songwriter to reap the benefits of writing, but let’s talk about why writing can be so good for your mental health.

At a GlanceWriting can be a powerful therapeutic tool. Getting your thoughts down can help you understand them and process them more effectively than keeping them all in your head. People who use writing therapy report better overall mood and fewer depressive symptoms. If you’re struggling with a mental health condition and need to vent your frustrations—consider making a journal your new BFF.

At a Glance

Writing can be a powerful therapeutic tool. Getting your thoughts down can help you understand them and process them more effectively than keeping them all in your head. People who use writing therapy report better overall mood and fewer depressive symptoms. If you’re struggling with a mental health condition and need to vent your frustrations—consider making a journal your new BFF.

How a Brain Dump Can Help You Relieve Stress

What to Know About Writing Therapy (Write This Down)

Writing therapy (aka emotional disclosure or expressive writing) is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.It involves using writing of any kind, like creative writing, freewriting, and poetry, as a therapeutic tool.Writing therapy can be especially for those who are more withdrawn or have trouble opening up to others.

Writing therapy can be so beneficial to our mental health because it’s basically a form of venting. You know how good it feels to come home after a long day of work and go on and on about how much you dislike that one coworker for a reason you can’t even put your finger on. Or when you spill all of your dating frustrations to your bestie over the phone. It’s a nice release of stress. You can release stress in a similar way when you write, too. Just pretend that piece of paper is your therapist, closest confidante, or even yourself.

No one else has to know whatever you choose to jot down (or rage-write about). Your journal or diary is your personal safe haven, and your innermost thoughts are safe on those pages.

What Is Expressive Arts Therapy?

Research shows that writing about painful experiences can even improve your immune system.Getting all of your thoughts out on paper is a big stress reliever. It’s also known that trying to suppress negative emotions can be detrimental to your overall well-being, so verbal release may only help you in the long run.Another advantage of writing therapy is that it gives your emotions and thoughts some structure.For instance, my therapist knows I love writing—especially writing poetry. So, when I was dealing with a particularly traumatic time in my life, she told me that my next few homework assignments would be to write poetry about my feelings. Because poetry is a form of creative writing, I had toreallythink about the diction and imagery I wanted to convey in the poems.

As a result, I really had to unpack my feelings so that my poem would paint a clear picture of what I was going through. I worked on the poem each night before bed and had it ready for my next weekly session.

The next day, I hopped online to meet with my therapist and tell her I had completed my assignment. In response, she asked me to read it aloud.What?!I quickly grew nervous since I was not expecting that. But, considering she’s never led me astray, I reluctantly recited my poem. It was an emotional experience, and my voice audibly cracked a few times, but it feltreallygood—euphoric, even. So when Pope says that singing her lyrics is “cathartic,” I completely get it. She says her singing can be a bit “disarming” because“I’m believing every word so intensely, and I feel them so intensely.”

So, not only does writing release some deep-seated feelings, orating them breathes life into them. There’s this particularly beautiful Chinese proverb that says:‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I write and I understand.’Once our thoughts are written down, we can see them in front of us, through this practice they become real. Then, we can dig in and unpack what it all means to us.

Other Benefits of Writing TherapyIf you’re still not convinced about the power of writing, here are some other amazing benefits of writing to take note of (pun intended):Lowered blood pressureReduced anxiety and depression symptomsImproved cognitionIncreased antibody productionBetter overall mood

Other Benefits of Writing Therapy

If you’re still not convinced about the power of writing, here are some other amazing benefits of writing to take note of (pun intended):Lowered blood pressureReduced anxiety and depression symptomsImproved cognitionIncreased antibody productionBetter overall mood

If you’re still not convinced about the power of writing, here are some other amazing benefits of writing to take note of (pun intended):

The Benefits of Writing Letters

Ready to Get Started With Expressive Writing?—Here’s How

The great thing about writing is that it can be about anything you want. There are zero restrictions on what you can say. If you’ve had an upsetting experience or need to release some frustrations about daily stressors, try writing about it.

Pope talks about how she’s been using songwriting to get more authentic about her life as of late. In fact, she was kind enough to dish on the details about a new song of hers that’s set to release soon titled “Three of Us.” In this track, she details what it’s like being the “third wheel” when you’re in a relationship with someone who’s dealing with asubstance use disorder:“It’s about me, you, and the drugs.”In describing the lyrics, she says, “It’s probably the most revealing song I’ve ever released.”

Now, if you’ve already got an experience you want to write about, feel free to get started when you’re alone and in a private space. But if you don’t know where to start, here are some prompts to start flexing your writing muscles.

Writing Prompts to Help You Get to Know Yourself Better

When you’re ready, get something to write with and a blank sheet of paper. Here are some prompts you can use to get started:

These writing prompts should get you more comfortable with expressing your feelings. Once you make sense of your own experiences, you might be ready to share them with friends, significant others, and other people you trust. If you have a therapist or plan to start therapy, you’ll already have some material to share that you can explore in the session.

When you connect through storytelling, you begin to strengthen your support network. Pope shared how much she leaned on her friends after a bad breakup.“If you have community, lean into it and don’t be afraid that someone’s gonna judge you if you made a mistake or a bad decision, a poor decision, don’t be afraid of that. It’s so much more healthy to just let it out,” she says.

Pope also cautions that doing this can also reveal the people who accept you just as you are—flaws included:“If somebody judges you or tries to make you feel bad about it, then OK, great. That one person is not a safe space for you.”

What This Means For YouIf you’re uncomfortable opening up to your friends this way, that’s perfectly fine. Never feel pressured to share some uncomfortable thoughts or experiences. You can keep them to yourself in your journal or reserve them all for your therapist.Writing is a good place to start when you want to better understand who you are and how your experiences have affected you. If you’re struggling with processing your emotions and feel that you need someone to talk to, consider seeing a mental health professional.

What This Means For You

If you’re uncomfortable opening up to your friends this way, that’s perfectly fine. Never feel pressured to share some uncomfortable thoughts or experiences. You can keep them to yourself in your journal or reserve them all for your therapist.Writing is a good place to start when you want to better understand who you are and how your experiences have affected you. If you’re struggling with processing your emotions and feel that you need someone to talk to, consider seeing a mental health professional.

If you’re uncomfortable opening up to your friends this way, that’s perfectly fine. Never feel pressured to share some uncomfortable thoughts or experiences. You can keep them to yourself in your journal or reserve them all for your therapist.

Writing is a good place to start when you want to better understand who you are and how your experiences have affected you. If you’re struggling with processing your emotions and feel that you need someone to talk to, consider seeing a mental health professional.

3 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mugerwa S, Holden JD.Writing therapy: a new tool for general practice?.Br J Gen Pract. 2012;62(605):661-663. doi:10.3399/bjgp12X659457American Psychological Association.Writing to heal.Krpan KM, Kross E, Berman MG, Deldin PJ, Askren MK, Jonides J.An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: the benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder.J Affect Disord. 2013;150(3):1148-1151. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.05.065

3 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mugerwa S, Holden JD.Writing therapy: a new tool for general practice?.Br J Gen Pract. 2012;62(605):661-663. doi:10.3399/bjgp12X659457American Psychological Association.Writing to heal.Krpan KM, Kross E, Berman MG, Deldin PJ, Askren MK, Jonides J.An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: the benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder.J Affect Disord. 2013;150(3):1148-1151. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.05.065

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Mugerwa S, Holden JD.Writing therapy: a new tool for general practice?.Br J Gen Pract. 2012;62(605):661-663. doi:10.3399/bjgp12X659457American Psychological Association.Writing to heal.Krpan KM, Kross E, Berman MG, Deldin PJ, Askren MK, Jonides J.An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: the benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder.J Affect Disord. 2013;150(3):1148-1151. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.05.065

Mugerwa S, Holden JD.Writing therapy: a new tool for general practice?.Br J Gen Pract. 2012;62(605):661-663. doi:10.3399/bjgp12X659457

American Psychological Association.Writing to heal.

Krpan KM, Kross E, Berman MG, Deldin PJ, Askren MK, Jonides J.An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: the benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder.J Affect Disord. 2013;150(3):1148-1151. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.05.065

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