Benefits of Trauma Narratives The process of creating the narrative itself helps the client process and reframe their memories. Repeatedly telling the story makes the memories more manageable and helps to diminish the associated painful responses.
What are the benefits of writing about traumatic experiences?
Oct 20, 2009 · So, the benefit of writing is not in disclosing this personal information to someone else. The benefit is in creating a story that links together …
Does timing matter when writing about trauma?
So, the benefit of writing is not in disclosing this personal information to someone else. The benefit is in creating a story that links together the …
What do participants write about when they write about trauma?
Oct 11, 2011 · Writing about emotions may ease stress and trauma. October 11, 2011. Stress, trauma, and unexpected life developments — such as a cancer diagnosis, a car accident, or a layoff — can throw people off stride emotionally and mentally. Writing about thoughts and feelings that arise from a traumatic or stressful life experience — called expressive writing — may help …
Are psychological health benefits associated with more severe traumas?
Dec 07, 2019 · In the 1980's, he discovered a link between “expressive writing” — writing for 15-20 minutes at a time, over several days, about a past traumatic event, or …
Does writing help process trauma?
According to a 2019 study, a six-week writing intervention increases resilience, and decreases depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and rumination among those reporting trauma in the past year.Jul 1, 2021
Why does talking about trauma help?
From feeling less alone to getting support to making meaning, talking about trauma can help you make sense of your experience. The Savvy Psychologist Dr. Ellen Hendriksen explains. Too often, we don't talk about the worst things that have happened to us.Mar 8, 2019
How do you process trauma through writing?
Begin writing about your deepest thoughts and feelings regarding your PTSD or the traumatic event you experienced. If possible, write for at least 20 minutes. (Note, this is ideal, but again, any amount of time is often helpful, especially if you find it hard isolating this amount of time every day.)Dec 14, 2020
What benefit if any does storytelling have on healing from trauma?
Putting words to a traumatic story is therapeutic in and of itself. It helps a person to remember details, express emotions, choose what is important to say, and make sense of all that has happened to them and in them. Storytelling helps a person begin to write conclusions to the story, which leads to resolution.Jul 1, 2021
Can talking about trauma be counterproductive?
However, casually dropping information about your trauma into a brief conversation is unproductive and problematic, she says. "Someone who just dumps their trauma onto others— they're actually reliving that trauma. A trained therapist would help you understand the story, how to learn from it and move forward.Oct 1, 2021
Why do clients smile when talking about trauma?
Smiling when discussing trauma is a way to minimize the traumatic experience. It communicates the notion that what happened “wasn't so bad.” This is a common strategy that trauma survivors use in an attempt to maintain a connection to caretakers who were their perpetrators.Sep 4, 2015
What are the benefits of writing?
1. Writing Helps Your Clear Your MindWriting Will Help You Recover Memories. ... You Will Be Able to Stockpile Ideas. ... Put Your Life Events into Perspective. ... You Will Feel like You Have Accomplished Something. ... It's a Great Mental Exercise.
How can writing help you?
Writing gives form to your ideas and gets them out of your head, freeing up bandwidth and preventing you from crashing your browser like a late night downward spiral on Wikipedia. Getting important ideas down alleviates the stress of losing your thoughts to time or an overcrowded mind.
Why does writing help you feel better?
Journaling helps control your symptoms and improve your mood by: Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns. Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them. Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and ...
What is trauma informed storytelling?
What is Trauma-Informed Storytelling? The process of learning to tell your story in a way that is safe and healthy for you and your audience.Aug 11, 2019
How can storytelling help us overcome tragedies of the past?
(NCBI.nlm.nih.gov) Research has found that openly sharing one's story verbally has a cathartic or purging effect that alleviates psychological distress. Similarly, writing about traumatic experiences and illnesses often helps to decrease symptoms.”
Should you tell your friends about your trauma?
Trauma is an incredibly personal thing. Therefore, talking to someone about it needs to be just as unique. Please don't open up about your trauma history because you think it will benefit someone else or because you feel that you owe it to someone.Jul 14, 2021
How to put trauma into words?
It may take time before you're at the point where you're able to put the trauma into words. Be patient with yourself, recognizing that "not now" doesn't have to mean "never.". Again, you get to decide when, where, and how you tell your story, which is a crucial part of owning the events of your life.
How does sharing trauma help?
You begin to make sense of the trauma. The biggest benefit from sharing our trauma stories may come from starting to make sense of a senseless event. "As humans we gravitate toward processing and trying to make sense of our experience," Dr. Powers said, and that need is especially pronounced following a trauma.
Why do people say they feel like they can face anything?
They said they felt like they could face anything, as they saw their fear lessen and found greater freedom in their lives. It takes courage to tell your story, and witnessing your own courage shows you that you're not only strong, but also whole. 5. The trauma memory becomes more organized.
Why do people think they are weak?
For example, a person might think they're weak because of what happened, or that other people can never be trusted.
Where are trauma memories stored?
Existing research suggests that these differences are detectable in the brain, with unprocessed trauma memories showing less involvement of areas like the hippocampus that provide context to our experience.
Does PTSD have a meaning?
While PTSD treatment shares elements with the treatment of anxiety, such as phobias, Dr. Powers pointed out that it focuses more on meaning than does treatment for anxiety. "We don't see the same type of drive to make sense of one's fear in panic disorder or spider phobia," he said.
Does PTSD come off the shelf?
Accordingly, effective therapy for PTSD includes not only revisiting the trauma memory, but also exploring its possible meanings. The meaning doesn't come "off the shelf," of course, but can only be arrived at by each individual. According to Dr. Powers, "At best we can help guide them through that discovery process.".
What is expressive writing?
Writing about thoughts and feelings that arise from a traumatic or stressful life experience — called expressive writing — may help some people cope with the emotional fallout of such events. But it's not a cure-all, and it won't work for everyone. Expressive writing appears to be more effective for people who are not also struggling ...
Why is it important to write about emotions?
Writing about emotions may ease stress and trauma. Stress, trauma, and unexpected life developments — such as a cancer diagnosis, a car accident, or a layoff — can throw people off stride emotionally and mentally. Writing about thoughts and feelings that arise from a traumatic or stressful life experience — called expressive writing — may help some ...
Why do people write nonstop?
Participants usually write nonstop while exploring their innermost thoughts and feelings without inhibition (and the writing samples remain confidential for that reason). They may also use the exercise to understand how the traumatic event may revive memories of other stressful events.
How long after traumatic event can you write?
As such, Dr. Pennebaker advises clinicians and patients to wait at least one or two months after a traumatic event before trying this technique. Even with these caveats, however, expressive writing is such an easy, low-cost technique — much like taking a good brisk walk — that it may be worth trying.
Why is writing important?
In this way, writing helps people to organize thoughts and give meaning to a traumatic experience . Or the process of writing may enable them to learn to better regulate their emotions. It's also possible that writing about something fosters an ...
Why is expressive writing more effective?
Expressive writing appears to be more effective for people who are not also struggling with ongoing or severe mental health challenges, such as major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Does expressive writing affect health?
Most studies have evaluated the impact of expressive writing on people with physical health conditions such as sleep apnea, asthma, migraine headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV, and cancer. Likewise, most of the outcomes measured are physical, and the findings — such as blood pressure and heart rate — suggest that expressive writing initially may ...
What are some facts that have emerged from the research of Pennebaker and others?
Some helpful facts have emerged from the research of Pennebaker and others, as the understanding of this phenomenon has grown: 1. Don’t suppress your thoughts and emotions related to traumatic experiences. Pushing down or denying what happened to you isn’t a helpful response.
What did Pennebaker discover?
Pennebaker discovered a writing pattern that predicted improved health outcomes: Those who started out using a lot of “I” references, but then shifted to more words like “because," “realize,” or “understand," saw more benefits from the writing process.
How does trauma affect your body?
Still, it’s well established that those who experience trauma and adversity often become stronger and more resilient. If you train yourself to watch for the positive that emerges out of negative (or even devastating) events, it positively impacts your mind and body.
Can suppressing thoughts and feelings affect immune system?
To support this fact, research has shown that suppressing related thoughts and feelings can compromise your immune function. 2. It’s not just about venting. People who focus exclusively on venting negative emotions might experience worsening health.
Can a clinician repeat the same negative narrative over and over?
This indicated that the writer was actively interpreting what had happened to them. As most clinicians are aware, it’s not helpful to repeat the same negative narrative, over and over. Processing a stressful experience, and incorporating it into the overarching narrative of your life, is key.
How long did 107 asthma patients write?
In the study, led by Smyth, 107 asthma and rheumatoid arthritis patients wrote for 20 minutes on each of three consecutive days--71 of them about the most stressful event of their lives and the rest about the emotionally neutral subject of their daily plans.
What are some examples of cause and effect words?
For example, the more they use such cause-and-effect words as "because," "realize" and "understand," the more they appear to benefit. Pennebaker also acknowledges that some personality types likely respond better to writing than others. Tentative evidence suggests that more reticent people benefit most.
What does Phil Ullrich suggest about journaling?
An intensive journaling study (in press, Annals of Behavioral Medicine) she conducted recently with her doctoral student Phil Ullrich suggests that people who relive upsetting events without focusing on meaning report poorer health than those who derive meaning from the writing.
What is the evidence that reticent people benefit most?
Tentative evidence suggests that more reticent people benefit most. A host of other individual differences--including handling of stress, ability to self-regulate and interpersonal relations--also mediate writing's effectiveness.
How does writing help in healing?
To tap writing's healing power, people must use it to better understand and learn from their emotions, he says. In all likelihood, the enlightenment that can occur through such writing compares with the benefits of verbal guided exploration in psychodynamic psychotherapies, notes Pennebaker.
Why use expressive writing?
For years, practitioners have used logs, questionnaires, journals and other writing forms to help people heal from stresses and traumas. Now, new research suggests expressive writing may also offer physical benefits to people battling terminal or life-threatening diseases. Studies by those in the forefront of this research--psychologists James ...
Does writing about emotions boost immune system?
Studies by those in the forefront of this research--psychologists James Pennebaker, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin, and Joshua Smyth, PhD, of Syracuse University--suggest that writing about emotions and stress can boost immune functioning in patients with such illnesses as HIV/AIDS, asthma and arthritis.
Why use trauma narratives in counseling?
Using trauma narratives in mental health counseling helps clients who have experienced significant trauma to reframe their memories and the resulting thoughts and feelings surrounding them. It can provide significant relief to trauma survivors and continued hope to them and their loved ones.
Why is it important to create a trauma narrative?
Here’s how trauma narratives can help survivors find their path to recovery and how to assist your clients in developing a trauma narrative.
Why is it important to tell a story?
Repeatedly telling the story makes the memories more manageable and helps to diminish the associated painful responses.
What is trauma narrative?
What is a Trauma Narrative? People who have lived through trauma often have a need to make sense of those events and the memories, thoughts, feelings, and physical responses connected to them. Crafting a trauma narrative is a psychological technique that helps people make sense of the experiences they suffered.
What is the cause of PTSD?
Cases of severe trauma can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where reminders of the events trigger intolerable memories and associated emotional and physical responses like panic attacks or uncontrollable rage. Crafting trauma narratives helps clients who have experienced either type of trauma to better manage trauma-related distress.
How to help a trauma client?
The first step is to help your client create a solid base of understanding about trauma, why it should be treated and not avoided, how the treatment will proceed, and why it will be effective. Psychoeducation is the foundation for treatment. You want your client, and their family if relevant, to understand the basics of exposure therapy and learn coping skills to help them thrive while undergoing therapy (and after therapy). Some key points to bring up in your psychoeducation:
Is avoidance a psychoeducational response?
Some key points to bring up in your psychoeducation: Trauma is a normal response to some experiences, and each person is unique as to how they react. Avoidance causes symptoms to get worse, although it may feel better to do so at the moment. The strength of traumatic memories will diminish with exposure to them.
Why is trauma important?
Trauma puts survivors on constant high alert, a survival response useful to protect against additional trauma. But this sense of alertness also blocks access to the deep roots of trauma in the body. Traumatic memories reside as frozen experiences within.
What is the key to trauma integration?
Discovering previously unused personal resources is one of the keys to trauma integration. This is an essential foundation for nobody is ever quite the same after trauma. Recovery requires a significant amount of rebuilding of the self and renewing a sense of connection to the foundations of life.
What should we focus on in trauma therapy?
Early work should focus instead on restoring a sense of safety, on helping the survivor to discover and draw on their resources, and on self-regulation.
What are the reactions of a survivor to trauma?
Other reactions show up as well, some quite troubling. Early arrivals often include hyper- or hypo-alertness, anxiety attacks, anger, shame and guilt .
What is the goal of rebuilding and renewing?
The goal in rebuilding and renewing cannot be to throw out everything from the past, or try to get back to things the way they used to be. Rather it must be to reclaim familiar and enduring elements of the past and reframe them in a new configuration of purpose and meaning.
How do survivors regain access to memories and responses of the body that have been frozen by trauma?
The underlying principle is that, in order to regain access to memories and responses of the body that have been frozen by trauma, survivors need to expand their control over the instinctual ( i.e., spontaneous) stress response to the trauma.
Where is trauma stored?
Trauma is stored somatically, that is, in the body. Its most disruptive consequences play out in sensory networks, the nervous system, and the vagus nerve that connect many parts of the body including the brain and the gut. We have to involve all of those systems to get to the root of trauma.
What is the basic writing paradigm?
The basic writing paradigm (#N#Reference Pennebaker#N#Pennebaker, 1994,#N#Reference Pennebaker#N#1997 a ,#N#Reference Pennebaker#N#1997 b ;#N#Reference Smyth, Pennebaker and Snyder#N#Smyth & Pennebaker, 1999) used in most of the subsequent expressive writing studies involves participants writing about traumatic or emotional experiences ( Box 1) for 3–5 sessions, often over consecutive days, for 15–20 minutes per session. Most studies have been conducted in the laboratory, although more recently writing has been done at home or in a clinical setting. Participants often reveal a considerable range and depth of emotional trauma in their writing. Although many report being upset by the writing experience, they also find it valuable and meaningful (#N#Reference Pennebaker#N#Pennebaker, 1997 b ). Control participants are asked to write as objectively and factually as possible about neutral topics such as a particular room or their plans for the day, without revealing their emotions or opinions. No feedback is given on the writing.
What is a LIWC?
A computerised text analysis system, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC;#N#Reference Pennebaker, Francis and Booth#N#Pennebaker et al, 2001 ), was specifically designed to determine whether certain linguistic markers might be associated with improvements in health. The LIWC program analyses the writing tasks by calculating the percentage of words in the text matching each of 82 predefined language categories. The most consistent finding has been that, over the course of writing, participants whose health improved used more positive-emotion words, a moderate number of negative-emotion words and an increased number of ‘cognitive mechanism’ words (the latter include insight words such as understand, realise and causal words such as because, reason) (#N#Reference Pennebaker#N#Pennebaker, 1997 b ).
What are the effects of expressive writing?
The immediate impact of expressive writing is usually a short-term increase in distress, negative mood and physical symptoms, and a decrease in positive mood compared with controls .
How long should you write about an event in expressive writing?
In the expressive writing paradigm, participants are asked to write about such events for 15–20 minutes on 3–5 occasions. Those who do so generally have significantly better physical and psychological outcomes compared with those who write about neutral topics.
Does expressive writing help with trauma?
There is little support for the initial hypothesis that expressive writing operates through a process of emotional catharsis or venting of negative feelings. Writing only about the emotions associated with a trauma is not as beneficial as writing about both the event and the emotions (#N#Reference Pennebaker and Beall#N#Pennebaker & Beall, 1986 ). Furthermore, expressive writing results in immediate increase in negative affect rather than immediate relief of emotional tension, and the obtained health benefits are unrelated to the amount of negative emotion or distress either expressed or reported just after writing (#N#Reference Smyth#N#Smyth, 1998 ).
Does writing help with traumatic memory?
More direct investigations of cognitive processing as a potential mechanism suggest that writing may help the writer to organise and structure the traumatic memory, resulting in more adaptive, integrated schemas about self, others and the world (#N#Reference Harber, Pennebaker and Christianson#N#Harber & Pennebaker, 1992 ).
Is expressive writing safe?
Given the large number of studies conducted to date, with only a few finding any worsening of symptoms for those writing about traumatic experiences, the expressive writing paradigm appears to be reasonably safe for participants, even if no specific benefits are obtained. However, it is recommended that patients be told that they can stop writing at any time, should they wish, and appropriate contact numbers should be made available in case of distress. Patients should be encouraged to write for a maximum of 20 min at each session, so that the task does not seem too overwhelming, although they may choose to continue writing once the time is up if they wish and if this is feasible.
