Writing therapy in brief workplace counselling: Collaborative writing as inquiry

Abstract

The purpose of this collaborative research was to reflect on one client's experience of using writing therapy during brief workplace counselling. The client/co‐researcher used expressive and creative writing between counselling sessions, the benefits of which are reported. A brief review of the literature on writing therapy is provided. The focus of the study is on investigating the process of writing therapy from the client's point of view. The epistemological assumptions and research methods are influenced by narrative inquiry. Feminist values inform both the therapeutic practice and research.

“Writing is a way of saying things I can’t say”—therapeutic creative writing: a qualitative study of its value to people with cancer cared for in cancer and palliative healthcare

“…Previous qualitative research with depressed primary care patients,34 hospice patients7 and counselling clients35 – 38 gave similar results to this study. Research with women with breast cancer indicated positive effects 39 40.…”

Reflecting on Maltese school‐based counselling practices: An autoethnographic collaborative writing project

“…A serendipity experience was the bonus, perhaps also therapeutic, effect individual/group writing had on us (Lepore & Smythe, ; Wright, ):

Writing personal stories can be therapeutic for authors as we write to make sense of ourselves and our experiences, purge our burdens and question canonical stories—conventional, authoritative and "projective" storylines that "plot" how "ideal social selves" should live. In so doing, we seek to improve and better understand our relationships, reduce prejudice, encourage personal responsibility and agency, raise consciousness and promote cultural change and give people a voice that, before writing, they may not have felt they had.

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O uso das cartas terapêuticas na prática clínica

“…Dessa forma, no que se refere aos campos disciplinares/profissionais, as cartas terapêuticas são utilizadas na terapia familiar (Vidgen & Williams, 2001), na terapia em grupo (Chen, Noosbond & Bruce, 1998), no aconselhamento (Paré & Rombach, 2003) e na prática da equipe de enfermagem (Erlingsson, 2009). Os diferentes contextos de uso incluem desde a clínica psicoterápica em geral (Pyle, 2009) e as consultas psiquiátricas (Couper & Harari, 2004), passando pelas escolas com os adolescentes, pais e professores (Oliver, Nelson, Cade & Cueva, 2007), até o aconselhamento breve nas empresas (Wright, 2005). As cartas terapêuticas também foram utilizadas de maneira efetiva com diferentes populações, seja com pessoas que sofrem distúrbios alimentares (Davidson & Birmingham, 2001), com experiências traumáticas passadas (Esterling, L'Abate, Murray & Pennebaker, 1999), com adolescentes e suas famílias (Goldberg, 2000) e com pacientes em crise (Tubman, Montgomery & Wagner, 2001).…”