Words for Wellbeing Writing Group

A monthly reflective writing group promoting self-expression and self-understanding in a small, welcoming group of no more than eight participants.

This is a group for you to nurture your creativity and play with words, while exploring your self, your values, your place in the world. It’s about writing for personal reflection and growth, freely and without rules.

Your spelling, grammar and handwriting don’t matter here. It doesn’t matter whether you already have a writing practice or not. And the choice of whether to share any of your writing is always up to you, without pressure.

A typical meeting

We'll usually spend some time checking in with each other and have a wordy warm up before launching into a variety of invitations to write of different lengths. We'll often work with a poem, reading and reflecting on it before using it as a prompt for our own writing, or I might offer a theme, image or natural object as inspiration. Your response can be whatever you want it to be: poetry, journaling, an unsent letter, spider diagram, doodles... I will guide, but the choice is ultimately yours. At times, I'll invite you to share with a partner or the wider group - but this is certainly not compulsory and you may prefer to talk about how you found the process of writing rather than reading out your work itself.

Your facilitator

I'm Janine, a local lass whose work as a counsellor and nature connection guide comes via a degree in literature, a career in journalism, time as a teacher and a personal writing practice that has included journaling, short stories, poetry and terrible handwriting. I bring my approach as a person-centred counsellor into the group, offering a space in which we aim for acceptance, warmth and understanding.

Questions? Worries?

If you're unsure if this is for you, or you have a lot going on emotionally at the moment and want to check if this kind of self-reflection is right for you, you can email me at janinecounsellor@gmail.com with any questions or to arrange a chat on the phone.

Location

I've had to change location for May's meeting. We'll be at Hazlehurst Studios, 71 High Street, Runcorn WA7 1AH.

Parking is available in Runcorn town centre.

I also hold an online alternative the Tuesday after the in-person group.

Ticket types

Attendance costs £15. For people on a low income, there is a reduced rate option of £10 available at checkout.