[(Expressive Writing: Foundations of Practice)] [Author: Kathleen Adams] published on

by Kathleen Adams

Expressive writing is life-based writing that focuses on authentic expression of lived experience, with resultant insight, growth and skill-building. For decades, it has been the province of journals, memoirs, poets, and language arts classrooms. Social science research now provides indisputable evidence that expressive writing is also healing. In this remarkable collection, eight leading experts from education, counseling, and community service join to offer compelling guidance from applied practice. You ll .How writing poetry helps primary school children develop emotional intelligence .A model for helping teens at risk write safely about their deepest hurts .How to engage reluctant writers and help them develop vital writing skills .A simple and effective way to build structure, pacing, and containment into life-based writing .How discovering the wellspring of inner speech helps strengthen writing skills .A method to transform expressive writing into insightful problem-solving .Easy strategies to write family stories .Innovative ways to bring literature into the classroom to hone critical thinking skills through reflective practice .Practical, time-tested ways for expressive writing in guidance and counseling .Case studies for all levels of Primary, teens, college-age, and adults Whether you are an educator, a counselor, a facilitator or a writer, you ll find this volume an invaluable and innovative resource for the foundations of practice of expressive writing.

Genres: Grad School

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Kathleen (Kay) Adams LPC is a best-selling author, speaker, psychotherapist and visionary. Her first book, Journal to the Self, is a classic that has helped define the field of journal therapy.

She has also written The Write Way to Wellness: A Workbook for Healing and Change, The Way of the Journal , Mightier Than the Sword , and Scribing the Soul.

Kay is a beloved teacher whose innovative work has helped hundreds of thousands of people heal, change and grow. Her dynamic presentation style is fluid, clinically grounded, intuitive and engaging. She is the voice of journal therapy at conferences, hospitals, mental health agencies and seminars around the world. A tireless advocate for the healing power of writing, Kay is a three-time recipient of the National Association for Poetry Therapy’s Distinguished Service Award. She was a finalist for the first Season for Nonviolence Peacemaker Award in Colorado for her work bringing journal therapy to populations as diverse as people with HIV/AIDS, breast cancer survivors, recovering addicts, and survivors of violent crime.

In an About.com poll, Kathleen Adams was listed (with Anais Nin and Anne Frank) as one of the three most significant influences on contemporary journal keeping.

Professional Profile
With more than 40,000 clinical hours in the field, Kathleen Adams is among the most experienced and respected journal therapists working today.

Clinical Experience

1985-present: Founder/Director, The Center for Journal Therapy, Wheat Ridge, CO
1992-present: Private psychotherapy practice with specialty in journal/poetry therapy, Wheat Ridge, CO
1994-2008: Contract journal therapist, Denver Health and Hospitals, HIV/AIDS team
1990-1992: Journal therapist, The National Center for the Treatment of Dissociative Disorders, Denver CO
1988-1990: Group therapist and unit counselor, West Pines Psychiatric Hospital, Wheat Ridge CO
Education and Licensure

MM/S (Master Mentor/Supervisor, designated by National Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy [NFBPT] as a trainer of mentor/supervisors), 2007
M/S (Mentor/Supervisor, designated by NFBPT as a trainer/supervisor of certified applied poetry facilitators, certified poetry therapists and registered poetry therapists, 2000
PTR (Registered Poetry/Journal Therapist), 2000
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor), 1993
MA, Psychology and Counseling, Boulder Graduate School, Boulder CO, 1988
BA, Journalism, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins CO, 1972
Awards and Achievements

Board of Directors, National Association for Poetry Therapy (NAPT), 1993-2007; pesident, 2001-2003
Board of Directors, NAPT Foundation, 1997-2001; president 1997-2001
Board of Directors, National Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy, 2003-2008; president, 2005-2006
NAPT’s Distinguished Service Award, 1998, 2003, 2005
Peacemaker Award (finalist), 1998, A Season for Nonviolence

Reviews

[Sara Loves to Read]

Read hard copy.

"There is nothing so wise as a circle." - Rainier Maria Rilke

Kay Adams:
Writing in community.
Choices in technique, recognizing changes in feelings, reflection.
Writing three feeling words before beginning the journal entry and writing three feeling words at the end of the reflection offer immediate feedback about how the process helps feelings change.
Adams interpretation of Pennebaker four-part write: write what happened, tell more of the story (facts and feelings), how has this story impacted you -meant to you, continue to shape you, what do you move towards or away from because of this experience, where do you go from here (write a reflection after each of the four parts).

Robb Jackson:
"Shoobeedoo" - the verbal stream of consciousness that has accompanied my life, asleep or awake
Start writing and give ourselves permission to write anything that occurs to us
Sources of input and stimulation - sensory stimulation, memory, spirituality

Kay Adams:
The Journal Ladder - structure, pacing, containment
Concrete to abstract
Conscious, subconscious, unconscious - known, remembered, unknown
Structure, insight, intuition
Right now I should...
I feel...
I wish I knew...
Today I am...
Since last session...

Kate Thompson:
Journal writing in counseling sessions
Lists, Steppingstones, captured moments, unsent letters, dialogues, perspectives
Lists are a good starting point for clients who have not written in a while
"Things I will not talk to Kate about"
Landscape steppingstones
Perspectives forward or backward in time, roads not taken, changing the voice of the narrator

Joy Roulier Sawyer:
Hynes and Hynes-Berry Biblio/Poetry Therapy Model
recognition, examination, juxtaposition, application to self
In a bibliotherapy group, the literature itself is the primary facilitator

Linda Barnes:
Box of smells - The teacher creates a collection of small bottles or containers, putting into each a sample amount of liquid or powdered substances, each with a distinct aroma. Prior to the writing exercise, each student selects a bottle at random. Once the directions for the writing exercise are given, students open their bottles, take in the smell released, and use their associations to the aroma in their writing. Can be used in combo with other writing exercises. Suggested substances: detergent, fabric softener, dishwashing soap, cinnamon, baby powder, ground cloves, toothpaste, ground coffee, aftershave, olive oil, cocoa, ground ginger, hair styling products, calamine lotion, baby shampoo, grass, vanilla...
Box of found objects - Items collected from anywhere and everywhere. The more obscure or ambiguous and the more substantial and permanent the better. Ideas: chunks of broken electronics, knobs, unusual seashells
Words lists - students can construct their own, or be given lists to use in different ways.

[Elisheva · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever wanted to write to express your thoughts, feelings, and experiences - this book will inspire you to take those risks. No previous writing experience is required.