"Writing down is a way of letting go" : individuals using writing to return to "remembered wellness"

Abstract

This research studies how individuals in a graduate education course, examining the therapeutic uses of language, literature, and media, practiced these theoretical concepts in their own lives. A critical case study, this work looks at six specific participants to illustrate how they employed the characteristics of “writing as healing” to better understand or heal from a trauma in their past. In part, the work looks at the participants' attitudes toward writing as healing and how those attitudes affected the individual's overall take-away from the writing; how audience impacted the healing from writing; and the motivating factors behind each writing piece. Additionally, the study also looks at the impact for education such writing offers.