Write free: self-knowledge resource.

We have previously talked about therapeutic writing and its many benefits from the point of view of mental health and self-knowledge.

Here we are going to focus on Free Writing which, after all, is the key to therapeutic writing.

What do we call "free" in this context? It involves expressing ourselves in the least conditioned way possible. Trying not to dwell on self-criticism and perfectionism, letting the words flow even if they don't seem to make sense of coherence. Single words, descriptions, memories can emerge, without forming a complete sentence. Emotions, sensations, various associations can make their way, and all of them must find their place on the page.

Freewriting is a kind of free association in writing, where the most difficult job is to transcend censorship. In what is poured out on paper are representative elements of the internal world of the person who writes. If we go deep enough and do it relatively often, it can become a fundamental self-knowledge tool.

There is something essential about this act which is its intimate character. It strengthens the space and the dialogue with its own aspects that do not usually take place on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes we think that we do not know things that we do know but that in one way or another are hidden or confused. Freewriting can help us find them.

There are unconscious aspects that, of course, do not easily access consciousness. But there are many who are subconscious, who was on another planet, and who suddenly emerge in this instance. Offering this space is the opportunity for important material to appear that we did not fully present. And it gives us much more to work with if we are in a therapeutic context.

Many times the act of writing is associated with something strictly associated with Literature. And writing we can all write, it is an expressive resource, a human cultural heritage that we have at our disposal.

With this in mind, we enable the act of writing. We transform it into our own tool that is at the service of emotional expression and self-knowledge.

One of the most interesting aspects of this free writing is to allow some of the emotion, sensations, intuition, and not merely the rational, to be transmitted: thoughts and ideas. This is very important because it will expand our way of expressing ourselves and will allow us to make it visible and put words to aspects that are sometimes difficult to name.

In many cases, a trigger can be used. If there is some issue that concerns us, we can put an initial word that symbolizes that issue and see what emerges accordingly. This is a way to facilitate this type of tool when you have a "blank mind" and do not know where to start.

Over time, just getting close to the notebook will be enough for some words to start coming out. If it is a daily habit, even better.

Writing is a great ally in therapeutic processes and promotes mental health because it allows us to be in contact with what happens to us and gives rise to emotions and internal processes that sometimes cannot be expressed in other ways.

 

Thank You