The Past and Future of Therapeutic Letters

Abstract

This article explores the technological implications of the translation of therapeutic letters to therapeutic e-mail communication. The history of letters is juxtaposed with the currency with which the written language locates itself in today's methods and patterns of communication. Implications of such a translation, inherent with gifts and limitations, all deeply embedded in a historical context, are explored. The future of therapeutic letters continues to be located in their utility and ultimately their capacity to offer healing and helpful words to families in suffering.

“It's the Little Things That Count”: The Value in Receiving Therapeutic Letters

“…Therapeutic letter writing has a long history in counseling and therapy (Pare & Rombach, 2003;Romback, 2003;White & Epston, 1990) and has recently been highlighted as an effective strategy in advanced family nursing practice (Bell, Moules, & Wright, 2009). The therapeutic value of TLs had been described in many ways, including the promotion of powerful relationships (Rodgers, 2009), bridging time and space to deliver healing words (Moules, 2009a), adding to and extending the therapeutic dialogue (Pyle, 2009) acknowledging suffering, conserving and protecting memories, provoking reflection (Moules, 2009b), cementing the therapeutic alliance, promoting new insights, and clarifying the therapeutic process (Ryle, 2004). According to Pare and Rombach (2003), TLs are specialized tools that help practitioners understand patients' meanings and identities.…”

“…TLs have been found to facilitate relationship-building (Moules, 2002;2009a, 2009b, promote mutuality in clinical relationships, and encourage seeing patients' strengths (Rodgers, 2009). However, there is little information regarding the use of TLs in undergraduate nursing courses, and, to our knowledge, no studies have explored the perspectives of psychiatric patients who received TLs from their undergraduate students.…”

Three Wise Young Men, a Cyber Community and Music — Counselling As Social Action: Storying a Community of Care in the Aftermath of Violence

“…In addition, the letter helps sustain the children's interest and directly includes them in the process. Letter writing as a therapeutic practice and the development of e-mail letters to clients, as captured by Moules (2009), has application for how Linda used letter writing as part of outsider witnessing practice to invite and sustain a small community of care and acknowledgement for the young people. Letter writing as a narrative practice was developed by White and Epston (1990) based on the notion that written words often last longer than spoken ones.…”

Beliefs, Suffering, and Healing: A Clinical Practice Model for Families Experiencing Mental Illness

“…The usefulness of particular interventions within the Illness Beliefs Model have been studied from the perspectives of the families who received the interventions and the nurses who offered these skilled practices, including therapeutic letters (Bell, Moules, & Wright, 2009;Moules, 2000aMoules, , 2002Moules, , 2003Moules, , 2009aMoules, , 2009b, commendations (Limacher, 2003(Limacher, , 2008 Beliefs, Suffering, and Healing: A Clinical Practice Model for Families Experiencing Mental Illness Wright, , 2006, and the "one question question" (Duhamel, Dupuis, & Wright, in press).…”