WRITING FOR WELLBEING
short COURSEs

Writing FOR WELLBEING

short courses

Writing is a tried and tested method for coping with and understanding personal crises, depression, anxieties, stresses and traumatic events. The simple act of putting down words on the page can reflect our attempt to make meaning from the thoughts and feelings and experiences we have. It helps us to gain distance from the things that cause us distress. From keeping a daily diary to penning a poem, all forms of writing can help us to shape narrative from chaos. Therapeutic writing can also help us re-discover our playful selves.

In her Writing For Wellbeing courses, Dr Sian Prior will lead you through a series of ideas and exercises in therapeutic writing, using a variety of techniques and exploring the methods that might work best for you. Each session will involve a mix of thinking, writing, reading, talking and brainstorming.

No experience is necessary and grammar, spelling and writing ability are irrelevant. There will be class activities, but everyone's writing will be kept as private as participants wish.

Classes can be delivered online or in person.

Courses

  • WRITING FOR WELLBEING FOUR-PART COURSE

    This course can be undertaken online or in person. It runs for four weeks, two hours contact time per week.

  • WRITING FOR WELLBEING ONE-OFF WORKSHOP

    This workshop runs for two hours and can be undertaken in person or online.

course content

The Situation and the Story

The first session involves a gentle introduction to some key concepts in writing for wellbeing, including; catharsis, self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-transformation. We learn how to distinguish between the ‘situations’ we find ourselves in, and the ‘stories’ we want to tell about our life. We employ simple writing techniques to identify the internal conversations we have with ourselves (the dialogical self) and learn how these conversations can help us resolve the challenges we are facing.

The Made-Up Self 

Drawing on self-presentation theory and re-visiting the idea of ‘the dialogical self’, in this session we will look at how the different ‘personas’ we perform in our lives can help us get distance and perspective on our travails. We ask ourselves ‘what’s at stake’ when we’re thinking and writing about our lives. What remains to be resolved? How can writing help us identify and move through the unexpressed choices and conflicts in our lives? 

The Savage Mind 

We look at life writing as a tool for self-understanding and self-soothing. Finding the language of pain – we examine how employing writing techniques such as point-of-view (eg. first person, second person, third person voice) can help us to find better coping techniques in our lives. ‘Good Things’ and ‘Hope’ journals – we discover how to use daily life writing to ‘accentuate the positive’ in our lives.


The Honest Self

We are made up of our memories but we also know that our memories can fade and distort, and also torment or console us. In this session we look at how to access faded memories and identify their truth content – both factual and emotional - through writing. We examine the blur between memory and imagination, and learn how to employ them both in our writing. 

Writing FOR WELLBEING courses

Four-part online course fee: $400 ($380 concession)
One off online workshop fee: $120 ($80 concession)

Next course - dates TBA.