Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives Paperback – March 17, 2000

I have found this book to be a treasure and a turning point in my writing career. It's a book to inspire you but also to help you plan your work at every stage and to look after yourself during work on difficult projects. It does not shy away from dealing with the emotional cost some writing exacts from us: it gives you ways, trustworthy ways, to look after yourself during, and after, writing -- ways to protect, look after and care for ourselves while we write or deal with our own "charged emotional material".The book is well structured in its content. For example Part 2 takes the writer deep into the writing process, identifying six or seven stages in the writing process that help the writer read the signals of intuition and inspiration at the start of the project, and also to read in the work itself as it nears completion. This staging process she outlines helps the writer to know how to push on into the next stages of the writing process -- on into the stages of deepening, of shaping and re-visioning and of actually completing the project -- stages which are too often skipped (e.g. when a work is rushed to completion, or abandoned before it finds its final form). This section I found particularly helpful.The author draws on her own research, but she also cites a wide range of authors, famous and lesser known, and mixes their short snippets of wisdom with her own.This is definitely not a self-help book: it's a resource for life. Sarah Ban Breathnach, the author of Simple Abundance, says of this book that it is "an exquisite gift of grace ...that will help you write yourself out of the wilderness of pain ... into wholeness" and I truly believe this to be so.

Writers can use this book to learn how to write better in the sense of getting in touch with themselves and digging in deep.Those who journal would find this most excellent.Do you already journal daily but would like to see if you can take it to the next level? This book is for you! This basically helps you perform therapy on yourself.Do you want to journal but nothing comes out? You honestly think you have nothing to say? This is actually the perfect book for you. This is a program with steps that will guide you through the process.I honestly would recommend this to anyone wanting to write, whether an existing or starting writer, or existing or starting journaler. This book deserves so much. She has studied other authors, she has written other books herself, she is just flat out amazing. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

I clung to this book during an excruciating phase in life - you know that time when we weep, and wail and become absolutely impervious to reasoning in our anguish. Oh how grateful I am to Ms Desalvo for this gem of wholesome comfort and deft guidance. It did actually get me to write. When it comes to writing, I do procrastinate, I lose what I write often and I don't feel comfortable sharing what I write either. All that changed and I began writing and reading out to my beloved friend and godmother :) Our conversations morphed from me exhausting her in her attempt to comfort me to beautiful, enlightening and memorable exchanges. I gifted her a copy on mother's day and another to a neighbor in Chicago (when we lived there) who also happens to be a published writer. She also loves and cherishes this book. It traveled with me to so many cities over the course of several months as I battled this tough phase. This gem will stay very close to my heart, that is how profoundly I have been impacted by it.

Despite being a writer, it's so hard expressing the extent to which this book has touched my soul. I came to it desperately in need of guidance, already knowing DeSalvo's reputation as a Woolf critic I've greatly admired. I knew her book would be useful. I had no idea it would be life-changing. This is one of the most influential books on my life I've ever read, and it may even be the most influential on me. I've never found any book on this topic to truly cut to the heart of what it is to need to find healing, much less a book with as much practical advice as this one. DeSalvo doesn't spew platitudes and feel good metaphor. She presents empathetic real advice on how to free yourself from the horrors of the past. I hope to meet Louise DeSalvo one day and thank her for this book. It's touched me to the core.

I read half this book a few years ago, then passed it on to a friend.When it was returned, it sat on a shelf for years.I reread the 1st half & read the 2nd half.Both parts are well written & helpful. The first half is largely about how writing helped DeSalvo's students to heal from their trauma & gives specific steps to get one started.The second half, she talks about how writing helped her heal & quotes other authors who write to heal themselves. She does discuss some of the dangers of writing if you aren't getting any support from a therapist. I'm glad the pandemic has put my workshop on hold while I figure out how to best help the young women I hope to work with.

Louise DeSalvo takes a topic many of us think we know everything about and tells us something new. Reminding us that "telling our stories transforms our lives," she gives us specific examples of people who did just that. By allowing ourselves to tell the whole truth of our experiences and their emotional impact, we arrive at a new view of our life and its meaning. I especially liked her dos and don'ts on page 26-27. I also appreciated her counsel about ways to take care of oneself while dredging up old hurts and painful experiences, seeing our strengths along the way. Every page shows her sensitivity, consideration, and wisdom in guiding us to heal ourselves. Journal entries provide the seeds for other writing as well as helping us to come to terms with our past. Well done! ~Joan Mazza, author of DREAM BACK YOUR LIFE: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO DREAMS, DAYDREAMS AND FANTASIES and DREAMING YOUR REAL SELF: A PERSONAL APPROACH TO DREAM INTERPRETATION.

Para quem gosta do assunto escrita terapêutica, esse é um dos livros mais recomendados por aí. Não decepciona em momento algum. Elucidativo, inteligente e esclarecedor, serve tanto para quem trabalha com o assunto quanto para o que deseja tentar por conta própria aliviar seus sintomas através das palavras. Recomendo muito.

My wife asked for this book. She lost a younger sister, Ruth, in July 2017. My wife, as a young teenager, had cared for her sister from birth for a year due to her mother being unwell. So the loss of Ruth has been very troubling. This book continues to be very helpful and valued..

I received the book quickly with no problem.I think this is a good book for anyone who is suffering from a traumatic experience or is suffering from difficult circumstances.

Often writers, who work in isolation, can find themselves lost in the emotional toll of their subject matter. Desalvo's research into the writing process of different well-known authors is revealing: for some it was a positive, healing experience, for others it weakened them. She then describes how she taught her students to write in a way that could strengthen them as they tackled difficult subjects. Finally, she gives clear direction for the reader as to applying these techniques in a way that will bring them through their personal writing experience with strength. Excellent information, especially for those writing memoir or material based on personal experience.

Love this book. Had it years ago and was a massive help to me. I was going through a pretty bad patch. Couldn't recomment it highly enough.