Jim read an article in his local newspaper on the work Ronni Miller had done over twenty years with clients, students and expressive writing. He emailed her and briefly described his inability to express feelings that he felt impacted his personal and work life. He wanted to make an appointment. Three months later he is involved writing a novel working through details of his tortured childhood, and has renewed confidence in his ability to express his feelings with friends and colleagues.
Frank came to a Write It Out workshop several months after he suddenly became blind from unknown causes. He thought his life had ended the morning he woke and discovered his world of blackness. Within days of attending class he began to write, something he had never done before, and discovered he could express his sadness and fear through poems. It is several years later and he now has three books of poems and seven awards for his writing and inspires others through lectures on how to find happiness and completeness through expressive writing.
Shirley a teacher passed an outdoor billboard at her local library that advertised in bold letters a creative writing class. Depressed after the birth of her son and a botched delivery as she calls it that caused him irreparable damage she signed up for the class and cried through most of the first sessions until she began to write out her story. The class was supportive. She cried less and wrote more and felt for the first time in months that she was beginning to regain her self worth as she released her guilt at being responsible for her son’s tragedy. Today she has put together a book of poems with her own paintings that illustrate the journey she and her son have taken as he’s grown through the years and how proud she is of his positive outlook and endurance of his physical handicaps.
The above people whose real names are changed to protect their privacy are just a few of the case histories of thousands of others who have benefited by the Write It Out method and program.
Expressive writing also known as emotional writing is one of the best ways to
• reduce stress
• relieve anxiety
• release frustration, anger and sadness
and
• improve wellness
• improve symptoms of disease
• improve positive thinking.
The Write It Out® program has guided thousands of individuals of all ages over the past twenty- one years to express feelings, memories and experiences through all forms of writing for the purposes of personal growth and wellness. Simple yet powerful exercises in the Write It Out program have encouraged individuals to open up and reveal their inner thoughts and outer experiences through writing. All Write It Out workshops provide a safe, nurturing environment for individuals to share all kinds of writing including journal entries, letters, poems, fiction, essays, articles, speeches, and theater pieces.
The Write It Out program fosters mind body wellness by providing sensory, warm-up exercises and activities that motivate individuals to remember and reveal their experiences through writing. Positive feedback that recognizes honesty of expression in writing builds self-worth and self-esteem. These elements alone add to the process of developing wellness for individuals who have suffered life altering experiences from bodily disease and injury as well as mind-altering conditions from anger, frustration, loss and sadness. The creative act of writing out personal and emotional thoughts feelings and experiences, ridding them from internal stress relieves the burden to the system that may cause health problems.
Expressive writing has been clinically proven by scientific research to reduce stress, relieve anxiety and release anger, frustration and sadness and thereby aids in the process of healthy wellness. The research work of James W. Pennebaker, Ph.D is well known in the field of expressive writing and his books and workbook on the subject have helped thousands of individuals.
Ronni Miller created the Write It Out program in 1992 based on her own experiences as a writer, educator and individual who evolved through her own childhood and adult traumatic experiences through expressive writing. Her story is exposed in her new book Cocoon To Butterfly: A Metamorphosis of Personal Growth Through Expressive Writing that is available on www.writieitout.com her website. Dr. Pennebaker has endorsed her book with the words: “ There is now compelling evidence that writing about your thoughts and feelings on important events can have beneficial effects for your physical and mental health…This is the kind of book that can provide personal insight to the value of writing.”
Some people shy away from writing fearing a lack of confidence with grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. For the purposes of personal growth it is not necessary to know any of the rules of the language in order to express feelings and experiences with words. Expressive or emotional writing is done for each individual alone. You may at some point want to share your story with others, and of course this is entirely possible. What is most important is that you release the thoughts from the internal mind and body in order to feel lighter and healthier. Expressive writing is a simple way to feel relief and welcome wellness.
A few of the places where the Write It Out Program has been Presented since it began in 1992:
Sarasota Memorial Hospital, FL
Center For Building Hope (Formerly the Cancer Community) FL
Women’s Resource Center of Sarasota, FL
Drs. Lerner & Cohen, MD, FL
The State College of Florida, FL
Ringling College of Art & Design, FL
Longboat Key Education Center, FL
Tuttle Elementary, FL
Selby Library, FL
Ulster County Community College, NY
Greenville Library, NY
Bermuda College, Bermuda
La Sosta a’ Busini, Italy
Villa Le Barone, Italy
The Holden Inn, MA
National League of American Pen Women Conference, Washington, DC, FL,
The National Association of Poetry Therapy Conference, MA
National League Of American Pen Women webinar on “The Value of Expressive Writing”
Write It Out® is a motivational and expressive writing program for individuals of all ages. It was founded and developed by Ronni Miller in1992. She facilitates workshops in the US and Italy and has a private practice in Sarasota, FL. See www.writeitout.com for more information.