"When my youngest foster daughter was in treatment for her severe eating disorder, one of her therapies involved writing a trauma narrative. In 11 single-spaced, both sides, she documented all the obstacles she had overcome in her young life: the death of her father, her mother's alcoholism. Then, in what her counselor called a destruction ceremony, she shredded her words, stuffed them into balloons, and set them sailing on her way outside of the residential treatment facility where she was living at the time."
"Perhaps the most significant reason reflective writing is such a powerful tool has to do with agency. Telling our own story, using our own words to convey what has happened to us, is in and of itself an empowering act. It lets us own our situation, claim our responses to what has happened to us. We may not be able to change our circumstances, but we can certainly own our reactions."
Reflective writing enables ownership of personal experience and fosters a sense of agency. Writing trauma narratives functions like exposure therapy through anxiety habituation, reducing the ability of traumatic memories to provoke fear. Expressing deep thoughts and feelings on the page can release negative emotions associated with events. Rituals, such as shredding and releasing written accounts, can symbolically separate the narrative from the self. Reflective writing also helps identify inner strengths by reframing adversity and extracting meaning. Ownership of responses, rather than circumstances, supports healing and personal growth.
Read at Psychology Today
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