As diarists know, the act of writing is not just a form of communication, but also a means to make sense of experience and arrive at a deeper understanding of the self. The combination of the creativity of the process with the achievement of something tangible increases feelings of self-confidence and self-value. Thus creative writing can provide a complementary therapy to talking and reflecting, and offers a cost- and time-effective way of extending support to depressed or psychologically distressed patients. Suitable both for health-care professionals who wish to implement therapeutic writing with their patients, and for those wishing to start writing creatively in order to help themselves, The Therapeutic Potential of Creative Writing provides practical, well tried and tested suggestions for beginning to write and for developing writing further.
