Greetings Everyone,
I’m doing an advocacy project on expressive arts therapy and I thought I’d share some facts & resources with you on creative writing. I’ll begin by explaining what expressive arts therapy is, then focus more specifically on journaling. Expressive arts therapy is a holistic intervention that taps into the creative process to promote emotional growth and healing. Common activities within expressive arts therapy include visual art, music, dance, drama, and writing. Creative writing is not only effective, but it’s also accessible and affordable for most people.
I’ll share the relevance journaling has had in my life and some of the specific benefits. As many of you know, in fall 2020, I unexpectedly began teaching 5th grade and started pursuing my masters at UTSA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my semester, it’s also been a lot to process with Covid-19. On one hand, with UTSA going virtual, I feel like I’ve been robbed of getting to truly bond with my cohorts. On the other hand, being an elementary school teacher, I understand the fear that comes with in person instruction. As you can imagine, carrying conflicting thoughts can cause a roller coaster of emotions, so journaling has really helped me process my feelings day by day.
Studies show that journaling can help individuals organize and process stressful emotions/events resulting in a greater understanding about themselves and their external circumstances. Journaling can even provide school/work benefits, such as improved athletic performance and grade averages, and a decrease in “sick days,” and a faster turnaround time in between jobs.
I hope you can see the value and benefits in participating in creative writing.
As an individual, you can advocate by sharing a journal topic on your social media profile. This should encourage your followers to look inward and write about their current mental health status.
As a professional, you can advocate for the implementation of journaling as a mindfulness practice in your workplace. We all know communication is key, so journaling might be a creative avenue for a team to process past projects and plan for future ones.
As a therapist, you can advocate for journaling by incorporating it into your practice and using it as a teaching tool with your clients.
Here are 3 examples of the benefits of creative writing. Studies have also shown that writing about stressful events for just 15–20 minutes for 3–5 consecutive days can positively affect both your emotional and physical well being. Emotionally, writing has been known to elevate mood and decrease post traumatic stress. Physically, writing has been known to lower blood pressure, and decrease stress related visits to the doctor, and improve immune system functioning.
Knowing the diverse benefits creative writing has on the mind, body and soul, I’ve made it a point to implement weekly journaling into my 5th grade curriculum. As a student myself, I understand the value of a clear mind and it’s direct correlation to academic performance. As a teacher, journaling gives my students an opportunity to release their innermost thoughts, fears, and dreams on paper so students are ready to focus once I begin to teach new material.
In summary, creative writing is an outlet to externally express what’s going on internally. The company JanSport highlighted this idea by featuring stories from individuals and creating the hashtag “share it” and “lighten the load.” One of their campaign videos features a man named Anthony who says “It’s definitely hard to express my emotions to other men because of the stigma that comes with being an ‘emotional male.’ People neglect their emotions and don’t address what’s going on within themselves. Vulnerability is a part of life. It takes more bravery to express your emotions in a healthy way than it does to suppress them.” Anthony’s statements really spoke to me because as a society we still tend to suppress and neglect our mental health. Instead of practicing self-care, we tend to numb ourselves with things like Netflix or a tall glass of wine. However, JanSport’s campaign #LightenTheLoad highlights the importance of sharing your story creating the phrase “if we’re not sharing it, we’re carrying it.”
If you are interested in learning more about expressive arts therapy or connecting with other creatives, here are two associations you can join:
The Association for Creative Counseling (https://www.creativecounselor.org/)
National Association for Poetry Therapy (https://poetrytherapy.org/).
#creativewriting #mindfullness #breakthestigma
