I have a particular interest in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (CWTP) which broadly defined means using expressive, reflective and autobiographical fiction writing as a way to gain insights about our relationships with ourselves and others, explore life transitions and to access, process and express our feelings.
On a recent trip to Avebury stone circles, a place I had never been before, I was really struck by the juxtaposition of man and nature in this sacred space – the wild power of both the landscape itself and the raw materials man has used to leave his mark on it. We don’t know what it all means, why it was built here or what it was used for and yet as I walked there I felt it resonating in me, as if it had a physical way of speaking to me down all the thousands of years it has stood here, connecting with something deep inside of me that perhaps I find (nearly) impossible to express.
On coming home from that trip, I felt this strong sense of CWTP acting in a similar way – the idea of feelings and experiences being raw and elemental forces acting on and within us and words both bearing witness to that but also having the potential to shape and change those feelings and experiences. It inspired me to write this poem in which I’m connecting the two:
truth
like earth and wood and fire
these are your words written now
no one to say it didn’t happen that way or at all
your words tumbling out of the earth
like forces of nature
fierce streams forming the land
carving valleys from the swampy lowlands
where you walk unafraid
your words a staff to lean on
your experiences raw elemental magic
that you draw on as you face the unknown
these words are your words written now
standing stones in sacred spaces
witnesses
If this sounds like a way of working that you’re interested in and you would like to know more about how therapeutic writing could be used within an individual counselling session, please contact me on 07875 403 188.
I love Autumn, it’s a beautiful time of year. And its a time when I find myself turning inward and reflecting on things more as the days and nights begin to get colder. I’ve been particularly aware of the changes going on around me this month, which is made physically manifest as the leaves begin to change colour and fall in the natural world outside. The seasons move on and we cannot change that but we can decide how we want to be with that change.