The therapeutic benefits of writing a novel psychology today. Army research institute, and other federal agencies for studies in language, emotion, and social dynamics. Pennebaker, a professor in the department of psychology at the university of texas at austin and author of several books, including opening up and writing to heal, is a pioneer in the study of using expressive writing as a route to healing. James pennebaker, phd at the university of texas and joshua smyth, phd at syracuse university have done studies that show that writing.
They also said that writing for six weeks using different techniques and analyzing the written material plays an important role in mental wellbeing. Pennebaker s work when i was working on the self authoring suite. You\ll resolve issues, improve your health, and build resilience. Pennebaker conducts awardwinning research and has published numerous books on the links between expressive writing and physical and mental health. Aug 31, 2016 the health benefits of expressive writing. The healing i experienced makes sense when you consider dr.
But then pennebaker began looking in detail at the language people used in their writing. Expressive writing, emotional upheavals, and health 1. Opening up by writing it down by pennebaker abebooks. Unlike journal writing, a more random approach to unlocking personal problems, this discussion on the process of expressive writing provides extensive guidance and structure. The health benefits of expressive writing wellness us news. Tentative evidence suggests that more reticent people benefit most. For this chapter and certainly for this book, one of the more important effects is an improvement in.
Writing to heal american psychological association. How expressive writing improves health and eases emotional pain paperback or softback by pennebaker, james w. Pennebaker, james w university of texas at austin, austin, tx, us. Pennebakers amazing research showing that writing helped to heal phsycial as well as emotional distress and illnesses. Aug 17, 20 james pennebaker s groundbreaking research showed the health benefits of writing down your emotions. Pennebaker is the regents centennial professor of liberal arts and professor of psychology. James pennebaker at the university of texas at austin. The writing cure presents groundbreaking research on the cognitive, emotional, and biological pathways through which disclosure and expressive writing influences mental and physical health. He and his students are exploring the links between emotional experiences, natural language, and physical and mental health. A guided journal for recovering from trauma and emotional upheaval by james pennebaker presents clear suggestions for using journaling to recover from lifes difficult periods.
Studies by those in the forefront of this researchpsychologists james pennebaker, phd, of the university of texas at austin, and joshua smyth, phd, of syracuse universitysuggest that writing about emotions and stress can boost immune functioning in patients with such illnesses as hivaids, asthma and arthritis. Pennebaker has 22 books on goodreads with 17623 ratings. The puzzling way that writing heals the body bbc future. He and his colleagues have developed a computer program called liwc linguistic inquiry and word count that analyzes the content of expressive writing to help researchers to better understand the.
Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Pennebakers earlier books have been recommended by booklist. This book shared a lot of information on why the authors first got involved in expressive writing and researching its benefits. Words that heal, cites statistical evidence confirming that people who write about traumatic experiences make fewer doctor visits and lead happier lives. Pennebaker, phd, the originator of expressive writing, is regents centennial professor of psychology at the university of texas at austin. The connection between expressive writing and wellness was discovered by dr. Expressive writing, emotional upheavals, and health. Although writing has been a popular therapeutic technique for years, only recently have researchers subjected it to rigorous scientific scrutiny and applied. The simple act of expressing your thoughts and feelings about emotionally challenging experiences on paper is proven to speed your recovery and improve your mental and physical health.
Writing about emotional upheavals in our lives can improve physical and mental health. It was so exciting that i investigated the research, downloaded his articles, and decided to write a book that talked about this research and how writing can be used to heal in becoming whole. The connection between expressive writing and wellness has been notably explored by dr. James pennebaker, phd, is the author of the secret life of pronouns, opening up, and other books. Over the course of his career, pennebaker has studied the nature of physical symptoms, health consequences of secrets, expressive writing, and natural language, and has received grants from the national science foundation, the national institutes of health, the u. Oct 08, 2018 writing about my feelings can actually improve my health. James pennebaker, chair of the pennebaker writing prompt write for 20 minutes writing to heal. Pennebakers most popular book is the secret life of pronouns. His research shows that just 4 days of focused writing can bring big payoffs for everyone, whether their problems are death, divorce, or just a difficult commute. This book, written by one of americas most distinguished research. Pennebaker is a professor in the department of psychology at the university of texas at austin in austin, tx. The 1997 psychological science paper writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process summarized the results of several expressive writing studies. There are some outstanding books by people who have an intuitive and practical approach to writing. In the expressive writing paradigm, participants are asked to write about such events for 1520 minutes on 35 occasions.
Pennebaker and others published expressive writing, emotional upheavals, and health find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Pennebaker has devoted two books to the specifics of language and better health. Selfreported emotional health outcomes some studies have also found longerterm benefits of expressive writing for emotional health outcomes, including moodaffect pennebaker et al, 1988. Smyth, phd, is professor of biobehavioral health and of medicine at the pennsylvania state university. Pennebaker is the regents centennial chair of psychology and the executive director of project 2021 at the university of texas at austin. This book will help you overcome the traumas and emotional upheavals that are keeping you awake. The healing power of expressing emotion and writing to heal, which focused on expressive writing, pennebaker is regents centennial liberal arts professor and chair of the department of psychology at the university of texas at austin. Since the publication of the first expressive writing study in 1986, a number of discoveries had emerged that had both theoretical and clinical implications.
How expressive writing improves health and eases emotional pain. He conducted the original work on expressive writing, starting in the 1980s, showing that peoples health and productivity improved when they wrote about traumatic experiences or uncertainty particularly if they constructed causal accounts or plans. Separated into three parts, the books introductory section covers material from a previously published book by pennebaker. The seminal expressive writing study 2 instructed participants in the experimental group to write about a past trauma, expressing their very deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding it. I used it then to get through a particularly rough time in my professional life. A host of other individual differencesincluding handling of stress, ability to selfregulate and interpersonal relationsalso mediate writing s effectiveness. Although the scientific research surrounding the value of expressive writing is still in the early phases, there. It explains why writing can often be more helpful than talking when dealing with trauma, and it prepares the reader for their writing experience. Pennebaker also acknowledges that some personality types likely respond better to writing than others. Expressive writing in psychological science james w. Expressive writing is turbulent and unpredictable, and that is ok. But do confessional blogs and constant social media updates change the picture. That\s the advice james pennebaker and john evans offer in expressive writing. Recently, 2014 evans coauthored expressive writing.
In general, expressive writing does not affect healthrelated behaviours such as exercise, diet or drugalcohol use pennebaker et al, 1988. Pennebaker developed an expressive writing prompt to uncover the potential health benefits of writing about emotional upheaval. His earlier work on expressive writing found that physical health and work performance can improve by simple. Aug 05, 2011 a brief interview about the book, the secret life of pronouns.
Pennebaker 20040503 mass market paperback 4 offers from. He and his students are exploring natural language use, group dynamics, and personality in both laboratory and real world settings. Expressive writing is a form of writing therapy developed primarily by james w. Pennebaker, a researcher, discovered the healing power of expressive writing in the mid 1980s by accident. He is the nationally recognized expert on the connection between writing and better health. Aug 31, 2016 writing about an emotionally charged subject or an unresolved trauma helps you put the event into perspective and give some structure and organization to those anxious feelings, which ultimately helps you get through it, notes james pennebaker, a professor of psychology at the university of texasaustin and coauthor of the new book opening. This work supports a key principle of health psychology which holds that there is an important connection between emotions and health. Ive been fascinated by james pennebaker s work for the past twenty years, so this book was a nobrainer for me.
Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health, in nonclinical and clinical populations. Pdf expressive writing, emotional upheavals, and health. The health and psychological effects of translating emotional experiences. He found that the types of words people used changed over the course of the four sessions. Words that heal provides research results, in laymans terms, which demonstrate how and when expressive writing can improve health. Metaanalyses of such studies with healthy and clinical populations have confirmed pennebaker s original finding. Jan 18, 2018 pennebaker and evans suggest dedicating at least 20 minutes of your daily schedule to writing to increase its health benefits. James pennebaker, coauthor of recent book, expressive writing. More recently, i took a course through the therapeutic writing institute, and we used this book for part of our work.