|  | Mental Health | Stress Management

Therapeutic Communication Skills

Writing can reveal more about a person than 50 minutes of talk therapy. In therapy, you have a designated appointment. You plan for your session with talking points based on memories of thoughts and feelings. Writing, on the other hand, is done when the experience is fresh. Helping yourself through a difficult time requires honesty. Discussing a conversation after it has happened can be therapeutic, but may leave out important details and revelations.

  1. Journaling

    • Psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin claim that journaling can help improve health. Some studies show that it can reduce the symptoms of asthma and arthritis. There are many different forms of journaling. Some people prefer writing about their experiences on a daily basis in a diary. Other people feel they can be more open if they're addressing a confidant. That's why journal entries may begin with 'Dear diary' or may even be addressed to a close friend or relative. People feel that revealing themselves in writing is the safest forum for being honest. They can express anger and disappointment in others without worrying about offending anyone. The conclusion experts have reached is that writing reduces the stressors that affect mental and physical health.

    Music

    • Dr. Daniel Levitin of McGill University in Montréal indicates that music activates areas in the brain that respond to other pleasurable stimuli, such as chocolate. Through research, experts also believe that musical memories may be the last ones that remain with people suffering from debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's, and that singing produces natural painkillers in the brain. Expressive writing, like song lyrics, has been shown to lower symptoms of depression better than typical journaling. So if you're going through a difficult stretch, or are trying to help a friend through an emotional upheaval, suggest they crank out a few rap or pop songs in lieu of overeating, isolating or other measures of avoidance that keep them from getting help with their problems.

    Poetry

    • If you have doubts that poetry has a place in medicine, consider this: the Journal of the American Medical Association actually publishes poetry. One professor of clinical psychology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, says that poetry helps people to make sense of difficult situations. Doctors must have been on to something two centuries ago when in 1810 Dr. Benjamin Rush added a library to the hospital he founded so that patients could read books that their doctors had prescribed. Writing and reading poetry, studies have shown, can improve symptoms of physical diseases as well as psychological maladies.

Stress Management - Related Articles