What happens when we don’t have the words for something that has happened to us? For trauma survivors, this is a common experience.

This workshop will explore creative writing as a method for accelerating therapeutic engagement, particularly with clients who have experienced trauma.

Various studies have shown us that traumatic experiences immobilise areas of the brain which we need to put words to our experiences, and therefore understand them. For clients with a trauma history, writing can be a valuable catalyst to healing and recovery. Through writing, clients can begin to cultivate linguistic control over their trauma and reorganise their story, with the therapist as companion and witness.

This workshop will be delivered in 3 parts:

1. Theory and research

In this first section of the workshop, we will explore the current research and theory which underpins the therapeutic value of using creative writing for trauma recovery. This will be interspersed with key insights drawn from my own client work as a practitioner of TA and as a licensed guide for Write Your Self, so you may start to think about connecting theory to practice.

2. Experiential writing exercise and witnessing

The next section of the workshop will involve a gentle independent writing exercise and some small group work, which offers a dual experience: you will not only have chance to share and have your writing heard by others, you will also practise ‘witnessing’, providing companionship and a safe space as the writer shares and puts words to their experiences. You alone will decide your level of involvement at this stage; there is no pressure to share what you have written. Alternative exercises and tasks are available.

3. Questions and starter pack

The final part of the workshop will be reserved for questions from participants so that you can consolidate your learning and decide how you might take this forward in your own areas of work (or personally). As part of the workshop fee, you will each receive a starter pack which includes additional exercises, further reading recommendations and other useful resources to help you to continue your interest in this specialist area.

Feedback from previous participants:

“Very profound experience”

“Excellent delivery”

“One of the best I’ve been to”

“Inspirational”

“Absolutely amazing workshop”

“Powerful and moving, thank you”

This workshop will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform where we will use our camera and microphones to interact with each other as a group.

To support practitioners in this time of extraordinary circumstances we are offering access to this group for a self-select fee.

The self-select fee is a radical inclusion policy to open learning for all colleagues. The guide price for this event is £20.00, however, we appreciate that income varies greatly in different locations and circumstances. Please contribute what you can to help us maintain inclusive professional training.

Katie Watson

For nearly a decade, Katie has worked in the charitable sector with vulnerable and disadvantaged adults and is also a qualified teacher. In 2018, she was awarded a scholarship to train as a trauma-informed writing guide for Write Your Self, a global writing movement aimed at supporting women to reclaim their stories after experiencing trauma. She is the first guide based in the UK to be trained in the methodology. She is also a published writer, and in 2017, she was runner-up in Mslexia's prestigious women's poetry competition. She is currently in her third year of training for an Advanced Diploma in Transactional Analysis (TA) Psychotherapy and currently works with LGBTQ+ clients. She has also served on the board of trustees for Manchester Rape Crisis for the past 4 years.

You can find out more about Write Your Self here:

https://www.writeyourself.com/