Back in September, after 5 years in solo private practice, 

I started a group practice called Interlace Mental Health. 

Well, we are expanding again with the fabulous Maggie Moore, LMFT

She is accepting new clients in Colorado both virtual and in-person.

Maggie is an expert at working with teens and young adults as well as supporting parents and caregivers! She is also a complete joy! You will love her! 

I am not going to make you wait for it. 

 

Journaling. 

 

My #1 New Year's Resolution recommendation for all of you, and anyone that will listen to me, is journaling. 

 

Now let me try to convince you. Ready?

 

When I tell people about the power of writing as a mental health intervention, it seems to elicit responses ranging from “bleck” to “boring” to evoking the image an 8-year-old girl with a My Little Pony diary, a little lock on the side, writing in her canopy bed, surrounded by dolls and wearing a princess dress, saying aloud with full drama: “Dear Diary…”. 

 

I get it. 

But, what if I told you there is research that writing, just for 15-20 minutes, for a handful of days about something hard, can lead to these outcomes*:

 

• Fewer stress-related visits to the doctor

• Improved immune system functioning

• Reduced blood pressure

• Improved lung function

• Improved liver function

• Fewer days in hospital

• Improved mood/affect

• Feeling of greater psychological well-being

• Reduced depressive symptoms before examinations

• Fewer post-traumatic intrusion and avoidance symptoms

• Reduced absenteeism from work

• Quicker re-employment after job loss

• Improved working memory

• Improved sporting performance

• Higher students’ grade point average

• Altered social and linguistic behavior”

 

Wild. And true. The research on the value of writing is fascinating. 

 

The seminal study was done by Pennebaker and Bealle in 1985. Researchers asked 46 college students to write for 15-20 minutes a day, for 4 days about “your very deepest thoughts and feelings about the most traumatic experience of your entire life OR an extremely important emotional issue that has affected you and your life” (Pennebaker and Bealle, 1985). 

 

(Okay, the prompt sounds pretty dramatic and intense. But hear me out.)

 

The students experienced some immediate negative changes, “higher blood pressure and negative moods following the essays”, which makes sense, but they also had “fewer health center visits in the 6 months following the experiment.” (Pennebaker and Bealle, 1985). 

 

Known now as the Pennebaker Protocol, countless studies have shown writing to be an effective tool for managing everything from physical ailments to psychological issues. 

 

As Pennebaker says in his interview with Dan Harris (link below) writing “for you and you alone” was shown to have an impact on not just struggles, but also overall wellbeing. 

In fact, as he says in the interview, if you do a Google Scholar search on “journaling and [enter any problem here]” you will find there are few things that are not shown to be helped by this simple, free and accessible practice.

This is also good advice.

And it isn't just the science world that encourages journaling. Artists of all kinds have relied on this practice for centuries.

 

In perhaps the most famous how-to book on creativity, “The Artist’s Way”, Julia Cameron, in all her brilliance, recommends what she coined as “Morning Pages”. Originally prescribed as an antidote to the dreaded writer’s block, she coached thousands of creatives to start their day with this free form, meandering writing exercise, just to get the juices flowing. 

 

Her instructions: 

 

Write 3 pages.

Then stop.

Go do something else.

Do it again tomorrow.

Or 3 sentences. Or 3 words! Just get started!

Our beloved writers, not surprisingly, also preach the value of the act of writing. 

 

“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul.” - Anne Lamott

 

“Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.”- Ray Bradbury

 

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." - William Wordsworth.

 

Those fancy writers.

With a cup of coffee and my laptop, I start the day here, in this very word document where I am writing this very newsletter this very morning. I try to put my thoughts into words on a page. It has become part of a sacred morning ritual that I aim for most days. It settles me, grounds me, lifts me and prepares me for whatever is coming the rest of the day. 

 

But maybe bigger than that, it helps me come into communion with myself. It is like taking myself to a cup of coffee and asking myself, as only those special few friends can, “No, really- how are you?” 

 

Almost as if the simple act of writing allows me to return home to myself, 

every time I do it.

YES! Get it Lisa!

 

 

Yes! You can do this!

If you have ever considered journaling or if you used to write and have since put it aside or if you have ever thought “maybe it would be helpful to put pen to paper on what is running through my brain”, consider this your New Year's invitation.

 

and Happy New Year!

 

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Citations:

 

Baikie, Karen & Wilhelm, Kay. (2005). Emotional and physical benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 11. 338-346. 10.1192/apt.11.5.338. 

 

Cameron, J. (1992). The artist's way: A spiritual path to higher creativity. J. P. Tarcher.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Beall, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(3), 274–281.