Writing Poetry Has Always Been A Therapeutic Endeavor For Me

And it can be for you too.

When people talk about what they like to do when they feel down, some common coping mechanisms, include watching a movie, meditation or yoga, hanging out with friends or family, taking a walk, or a nap, and so on.

But what if I told you that my primary method of coping with, working through, and expressing some of my raw and vulnerable emotions and traumatic experiences has been through writing poetry?

I began writing poetry as a teenager when I needed to find a way to work through all of my feelings to understand myself to grow through pain. Writing as a means of expressing your feelings, and maybe even sharing them with the world can be empowering, healing, and self-affirming.

I used writing poetry as a coping mechanism during some of the most challenging phases of my life, such as teenage growing pains, heartaches, my infertility / recurrent miscarriage journey, and other personal traumatic experiences.

But it wasn’t until more recently, mainly during the pandemic, that I found my voice, prompting the creation of the publication, Put It To Rest, which encourages others to use writing as a means of self-expression and therapy.

The first poem published in the publication was one I wrote, I Call This Trauma:

The premise of the poem is that after trying to hide the shame of trauma and dull the pain that eventually one learns to face it head-on.

And that, in facing it, one must also study it, appreciate it, and not only share it with the world but also put it on display, and even be proud of wearing this badge of honor.

For example: “It’s arduous work / carrying this thing around / like an old wet blanket / but I think I’m finally comprehending / that it needs to be housed in / a museum and framed / and reframed and observed and / studied and, well, displayed / like an artifact.”

Consequently, I think that too many people are afraid to look at their pain closely. That’s why in the poem when I use the analogy of a tapestry to trauma, I explain that the fabric must be studied in all of its “loops,” “knots”, and even “bows.” The poem went on to be my first poem published with The Canadian League of Poets.

It was incredibly empowering to know that a poem born out of such sorrow and grief became something I could be proud of and was an accomplishment.

Writing as a therapeutic endeavor can be accomplished in many ways.

There is no denying that the arts are conducive to mental health and well-being. Unfortunately, however, the enrollment in the arts in post-secondary institutions and high schools is at record low levels.

But with a youth mental health crisis only worsening throughout the pandemic, there is no doubt that access to the arts is beneficial to well-being and can even be lucrative and in demand.

While I’m a poet at heart and therefore even my prose writing is poetic, lyrical, and visual, there is no denying that writing in many forms can offer the same benefits.

If you’re new to using writing as a means of self-expression and discovery, then stream of consciousness writing is a great way to begin. This writing style is described as the following by Liz Delf:

Stream of consciousness is a narrative style that tries to capture a character’s thought process in a realistic way. It’s an interior monologue, but it’s also more than that. Because it’s mimicking the non-linear way our brains work, stream-of-consciousness narration includes a lot of free association, looping repetitions, sensory observations, and strange (or even nonexistent) punctuation and syntax — all of which helps us to better understand a character’s psychological state and worldview.

Therefore, I think that in a sense writing a poem is a stream of consciousness activity. At least I treat it that way, especially since I also play around with typography and punctuation too.

Still, I’m a trained and practiced poet, albeit still with a lot to learn, my mind can travel to the stream of consciousness to write poetry.

But just how can anyone tap into your voice’s healing powers?

There are several options for writing as therapy, but one popular option explored in Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way is to commit to the practice of writing “morning pages”.

The basic idea is that you are to simply wake up and begin writing whatever comes to your mind: it can be a dream or an observation, for instance.

Alternatively and yet similarly, writer, Natalie Goldberg, the author of Writing Down the Bones, encourages writers to get down all of their first, unedited thoughts, so that they are free of any filter, editing, or proofreading.

That way you can free your mind to explore deep-seated emotions and unresolved trauma. For example, a writer can revisit a scenario and write about what happened, rewrite what happened, or choose to simply write reflectively on the topic. But not to worry, both of the books I have suggested have a list of writing activities to explore.

I personally choose to focus on lessons learned and will reflect on my life experiences to form poetic thoughts. Sometimes, the poems are based on fiction and characters, while other times, they are based on stories about parts of myself. Some stories are fictional and others are non-fictional but I often have an idea ruminating, and it eventually finds its way out.

I hope that with these tips, you can also explore using writing as a form of art therapy.

Lindsay Soberano-Wilson is the editor of Put It To Rest. Casa de mi Corazón: A Travel Journal of Poetry & Memoir is available at lindsaysoberano.com. Find her on Medium, Instagram, or Twitter. Lindsay Soberano-Wilson©2021.