What is writing therapy, and does putting a hard experience into words really help? Expressive writing research, its limits and how to try it safely at home.
Someone who cannot sleep at midnight starts typing into the notes app on their phone a conversation that keeps going round in their head. As they write, they notice something settling into place and the tightness in their chest easing a little. The next day a question comes to mind: was that just momentary relief, or does writing really have a healing side to it? Writing therapy, or expressive writing as it is known in the research, is a field that investigates exactly this question. In this article we explain where the method came from, what research has found, when caution is needed and how you can try it safely on your own.
What Is Writing Therapy? The Idea of Expressive Writing
Writing therapy is a broad term describing the use of writing to express emotions, make sense of experiences and bring order to one's inner world. Different practices sit under this umbrella: writing tasks set during therapy, poetry or letter-writing exercises, keeping a journal and, the form most studied in research, expressive writing.
Expressive writing means writing down your deepest thoughts and feelings about a difficult or emotionally charged experience for a set period of time, without having to show it to anyone. The aim is not to produce a beautiful piece of writing but to put the experience into words. Spelling mistakes, grammar and style do not matter.
Some of the forms of writing mentioned under the heading of writing therapy are:
- Writing letters: Writing, in a letter that will never be sent, what could not be said to a person or about a period of your life.
- Telling it in the third person: Writing your own experience as "she" or "he", as if it were happening to a character in a story. Some people say this distance makes writing easier.
- Poems and short pieces: Trying to fit a feeling into a few lines or images.
- Structured writing: Working through specific questions, such as "What happened, what did I feel, what do I think now?"
- Free writing: Writing for a set time without stopping the pen and without judging whatever comes to mind.
Not all of these forms have been studied to the same extent. Most of our scientific knowledge comes from the expressive writing studies described below. For the others it is possible to say they "may help some people", but large studies measuring their effect are quite limited.
One distinction needs making from the outset: writing on your own is a self-care and creative expression activity; it is not therapy in itself. Although "writing therapy" is used loosely in everyday language, a structured psychotherapy process involves a relationship with a trained professional and an assessment. Writing can be part of that process, or it can play a supportive role as a habit in a person's own daily life.
How Did Research on Expressive Writing Begin?
The academic foundations of this field rest largely on experiments carried out in the 1980s by the social psychologist James Pennebaker. Pennebaker and his colleagues asked participants to write in short sessions over several days about their deep feelings and thoughts concerning a difficult experience, while a control group was asked to write about everyday topics without emotional weight. Various indicators of health and wellbeing were then compared between the two groups.
Hundreds of studies followed these early experiments. Similar methods were tried with students, people who had lost their jobs, people living with chronic illness and people facing various other sources of stress. In this way expressive writing became one of the most widely studied brief interventions in psychology.
Does Writing Therapy Really Work? What Does the Research Say?
The honest answer to this question is: it seems to have an effect, but a small one. One of the most comprehensive reviews in the field is the meta-analysis Frattaroli published in Psychological Bulletin in 2006. This study brought together 146 randomised studies and found that expressive writing had a small but statistically significant average effect. In statistical terms, the effect size found was around r = 0.075, which corresponds to a rather modest value of roughly d = 0.15.
What does this figure mean? Roughly speaking, you can think of it like this: on average, the group that wrote about an emotional experience showed slightly better outcomes than the group that did not write or that wrote about neutral topics. But this difference is not large or noticeable for everyone; some people may show no difference at all, while in others it may be more marked.
When evaluating these results, it is worth bearing a few points in mind:
- An average does not represent everyone. A small average effect may mean that the method is more useful for some people and has no effect for others.
- Most measurements rely on self-report. Participants reporting their own mood is more easily influenced than objective measures.
- Follow-up periods are usually short. Our knowledge of long-term effects is limited.
- Participants know what they are doing. Blinding of the kind used in drug trials is not possible.
Writing is not a way to solve everything; but for some people it can be a quiet way of looking at a difficult experience with a little more order.
This picture does not mean writing therapy is worthless. It matters that a low-cost, easily accessible method that is harmless for most people can bring even a small benefit. But that benefit is not large enough to replace psychotherapy or, where needed, medical treatment.
Why Might Writing Help? Possible Explanations
Researchers have proposed different explanations for why writing might help some people. These are not established mechanisms but possibilities still being studied:
- Making sense: Putting scattered feelings and memories into sentences gives them an order, with a beginning and an end. The person may begin to see their experience as a story.
- Reducing avoidance: Making controlled, time-limited contact with a subject you avoid thinking about may, over time, reduce the tension that subject creates.
- Gaining distance: Unlike thoughts going round in your head, a written text sits outside you. Looking at it as a reader can give you the chance to take a step back.
- Naming emotions: Being able to write "I'm hurt, because..." instead of "I feel bad" makes it easier to notice what the emotion is and what it is about.
Let us imagine someone who moved to another city after the 6 February 2023 earthquakes and feels they cannot talk to anyone about those days. They stay silent so as not to upset their family and hesitate to tell their friends. One evening they begin writing about that morning in a notebook that only they will read. They cry as they write, take breaks, and carry on the next day. The experience may not make them feel everything has been resolved; but they may feel, for the first time, that they have put something "outside" themselves. This fictional example shows both the power and the limits of writing: it can bring relief, but on its own it is not enough for intense and persistent trauma symptoms.
Let us consider another example: a young person preparing for the KPSS (Turkey's public-sector recruitment exam) for the third time feels inadequate after every practice test and cannot tell anyone. They decide to write for a short time every evening for a week about what the exam process makes them feel. As they write, they realise that what hurts most is not the exam itself but their family's question, "It'll work out this time, won't it?" Writing will not get them through the exam; but it may help them see more clearly what they are dealing with. Talking to their family about this realisation, or working with a professional, could be the next step.
Who Might Writing Therapy Not Suit?
Although expressive writing is safe for most people, it is not suitable for everyone at every time. In some situations caution is needed:
- A severe trauma that happened very recently: Writing in detail straight after the event, while the person does not yet feel safe, can intensify emotions rather than settle them.
- Writing turning into a loop: Writing about the same event every day in the same sentences, without resolution, may be an extension not of writing but of the thought loop going round in the mind (rumination).
- Intense low mood or hopelessness: If what you write is becoming steadily darker and making you feel worse, it is important to take a break and seek support.
- Thoughts of self-harm: If you have such thoughts, writing can be a supportive tool, but it is never enough on its own. In an emergency, call 112 (emergency services) without delay.
It is understandable to feel a little sadder or more emotional in the first days of writing about a difficult subject. But if this feeling grows as the days go by, it is worth considering that the method may not suit you at that time. If you would like to know how post-traumatic symptoms are recognised, see our article on post-traumatic stress disorder.
Tips for Trying Expressive Writing Safely at Home
If you would like to try it on your own, the following framework may help:
- Set a time and a limit. Write for several days in a row, each time for a short period you decide in advance. Stop when the time is up.
- Know that you do not have to show anyone. You can keep what you write or throw it away if you prefer. Worry about being read is one of the biggest obstacles to writing.
- Write about both the event and the feeling. Write not only about what happened but also about what you felt at the time and how you think about it now.
- Forget the rules of writing. Punctuation, spelling and fine sentences do not matter.
- Leave yourself a transition space when you finish. Having a glass of tea, going for a short walk or listening to some calm music straight after writing makes it easier to move from intense emotions back into daily life.
- Ask yourself after a few days. Did this writing bring me relief, or did it make things heavier? Continue or take a break depending on the answer.
Our article on the benefits of keeping a journal, which looks at different forms of regular writing such as end-of-day journals, may also give you ideas. The main difference between expressive writing and journalling is that the former focuses on a specific difficult experience and is a short-term, structured practice.
How Is Writing Used in Therapy? When Should You Seek Support?
In psychotherapy, writing is often not a method on its own but part of the process. In cognitive behavioural therapy, for example, a person may be asked to write down the thoughts that went through their mind in a difficult situation, the emotions they felt and alternative perspectives on those thoughts. In some trauma-focused approaches, the person may work with the therapist on putting the event they experienced into writing, step by step and within a safe framework. In grief, work such as writing the words that could not be said to the person who died may also be done.
Writing exercises in therapy often take the form of homework done between sessions. During the week the person notes thoughts or triggering situations they notice, and these notes are discussed in the next session. In this way writing acts as a bridge between what happens in the therapy room and what happens in daily life. For some people it may also be an easier way of expressing themselves than talking; particularly on subjects they find hard to put into spoken words, a person may prefer to write first and then read aloud.
What distinguishes this work from writing on your own is that it takes place within a safe relationship, the person's emotional load is monitored, and what is written is made sense of together. The professional decides together with the person when to deepen the writing and when to pause.
It may be helpful to speak to a mental health professional in the following situations:
- If the subject you are writing about has been affecting your sleep, work or relationships for months,
- If memories intrude at unwanted moments and shake you, or the places and situations you avoid are multiplying,
- If writing constantly makes you feel worse rather than bringing relief,
- If low mood, hopelessness or intense anxiety is making daily life difficult.
In individual therapy, writing is one of the tools that can be used according to a person's interests and needs; but at the centre of the process are the person's own story and goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is expressive writing the same as keeping a journal?
Not exactly. Journalling usually involves regularly recording the events and feelings of the day. Expressive writing is a short-term, structured writing practice focused on a specific difficult experience; most research has been done on this form.
Do I need to keep what I write or show it to someone?
No. In research settings, too, the principle is that what is written is not shown to anyone. Keeping it, tearing it up or deleting it is entirely your choice. If you are in therapy, you can share parts of it with your therapist if you wish.
Is there a difference between writing on a computer and writing on paper?
It is hard to give a definite answer on this. What matters is choosing the method with which you feel comfortable and safe and can write without interruption. Some people find handwriting slower and more reflective, while others write more fluently on a keyboard.
Does writing therapy treat depression or trauma?
No, it is not a treatment on its own. Research shows that expressive writing may offer a small average benefit. If symptoms of depression or trauma persist, evidence-based psychotherapy and, where needed, an assessment by a psychiatrist are more appropriate.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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