Five words of wisdom from Finding your own words
There has been an annoying paucity of literature published in Finnish on literary therapy. Fortunately, the situation improved somewhat in the spring with the publication of a revised edition of two of the most important works in the field.
For this post, I have picked five important tips from the book by Silja Mäki and Terhikki Linnainmaa. In search of my own words. Introduction to interactive literary therapy -(Basam Books 2022).
Finding your own words introduces literacy therapy in general and explains how the method can be applied for different purposes and with different age groups. The book also sheds light on the therapeutic benefits of journal writing and the potential of the dream world, as well as the principles of selecting material for use in groups. The book is aimed not only at practitioners of literacy therapy but also at anyone interested in literacy therapy.
Here are my five picks from the book:
1. Literacy therapy aims for change
The aim is not to analyse the content of the text or other material, but to examine the mood and themes of the text. The aim is to help the participant become aware of his or her own feelings and motivations (p. 15, Terhikki Linnainmaa & Silja Mäki).
Literacy therapy always aims to bring about some kind of change, or at least to initiate a process of change. It may involve, for example, increasing self-awareness and strengthening self-esteem, exploring conflicting emotions and dealing with painful issues, getting to know oneself and one's own patterns of behaviour and thinking, or structuring experiences.
In my own groups, we often dive into memories and personal histories, looking at past lives, experiences, highlights, main and secondary characters in a life story, settings and themes, and for example, the roles taken on in life. In this way, we learn to understand ourselves and our loved ones better.
For more information on the aims of literary therapy, see here.
2. Words help you move forward in life
The aim of literacy therapy is to help people to interact, to talk about difficult and forbidden things.- - - Personal problems become more approachable when you start by talking about them through a read or written text (p. 81, Jaana Huldén).
In literary therapy, the idea is that you can identify things and feelings in texts that have been hidden or for which you have not found words before. In the group, words are found for these feelings and their root causes, so that they can be described, processed and worked on towards the desired change.
Writing is a way to externalise unpleasant memories and strong emotions and get them out on paper. That way you can distance yourself from them and look at them from the outside. This makes it easier to deal with fears and anxieties, for example.
3. A detour is sometimes a better way to get there
What is essential in literary therapy is the distance made possible by texts: painful issues can be approached in a roundabout way. (p. 83, Jaana Huldén)
In a literacy therapy group, you read, write and discuss in a guided way. A wide range of texts are used to stimulate discussion and writing, including poems, short stories and novel excerpts, newspaper articles and song lyrics, but also photographs, postcards, videos, films and various objects. The idea is that it is easier to approach one's own problems and feelings through written texts than directly.
The material used can help participants to interpret their lives from a new perspective or reinforce their current ways of thinking, feeling and acting. Each participant interprets the material from their own perspective, based on their own experiences, and gives it their own personal meaning.
4. The group creates security
The experience of loneliness or anxiety is often accompanied by the feeling that no one else is experiencing it. A group brings comfort and a sense of community. The group can also serve as a restorative experience, for example in repairing distorted family relationships (pp. 93-94, Jaana Huldén).
Literacy therapy methods are most often used in a group context. Reading or writing alone can also be therapeutic, but literacy therapy always involves discussing the feelings and thoughts generated by reading and writing. Interaction provides an opportunity to mirror one's own thoughts, feelings and experiences with those of others, which can generate new insights and perspectives, for example on the possibility of change. The group can also help people to experience that their own sad, unhappy, guilty or even shameful feelings are legitimate and accepted.
In my own groups, all participants commit to a common set of principles at the first meeting, including mutual respect, discretion, confidentiality, constructive interaction and acceptance. For more information, please see here.
5. Don't store emotions
Trauma therapists have said that the brain is like a freezer where things are stored until they are processed.- - Many experts have suggested that mental health problems are largely a matter of unprocessed trauma (p. 114, Terhikki Linnainmaa & Jaana Huldén).
Through language and writing, you can find answers to questions that are central to your identity: who am I? Where do I come from? What do I want or need from life? What is important in my life? What is my life story? Writing can also be a way of accidentally discovering new things about yourself, discovering connections between things and recognising things that have been hiding in the unconscious mind. Sometimes, perhaps often, they can be difficult, painful things, but as you recognise them and slowly begin to process them, the pain can slowly begin to fade and the burden on your mind lightens.
In the US, psychologist James W. Pennebaker and his team have been studying the effects of writing about traumatic, stressful or emotionally upsetting life experiences on physical and mental health, and the results have been very encouraging. According to Pennebaker, distressing memories are not a problem in themselves, but it is the unresolved emotions that cause difficulties. However, even a short period of writing can have a positive impact on health, for example by reducing the need to seek medical help.