How to Write a New Life for Yourself by Byrne, Jim -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Preface Building a bridge into a better future Audiences for this book The relative merits of writing therapy and face-to-face counselling The likely concerns of counsellors and therapists regarding writing therapy More than just writing therapy Who has benefitted from writing therapy? Processing emotional experiences Why would you turn to writing therapy? Writing to heal the body-brain-mind Writing for self-management purposes The benefits of writing therapy Chapter 1: Introduction The socialized and narrativized nature of human life The power of writing therapy Some problems cannot be written out of existence The factors contributing to emotional disturbance or emotional well-being The Holistic-SOR model About two-thirds of your problems can be resolved by writing therapy Three case studies Chapter 2: Quick Guidelines for Doing Your Own Writing Therapy Prelude 2.1 Introduction 2.2(a) Initial guidelines

Strategy No.1: Starting the day Strategy No.2A: Ending the day Strategy No.2B: Daily Pages, or Morning Pages

2.2(b) Overcoming your resistance to writing 2.3 Dealing with emotional difficulties

Strategy No.3: Emotional processing Strategy No.4: Tracking sources of stress Begin in a small way

2.3 Focus on cause, effect and on your feelings

Strategy No.5: Naming emotions

2.4 The Pennebaker scientific tradition

A precise guideline Strategy No.6: The Basic Pennebaker approach How negative should you be?

2.5 Further clarification

Strategy No.7: Centring and grounding Problem identification Strategy No.8: The problem scan Strategy No.9: Checking for anxiety The desire for promotion and progress Strategy No.10: The WDEP model

Chapter 3: Therapeutic Narratives and Writing Therapy: The two main traditions and the E-CENT approach Prelude 3.1 Humans as storytellers 3.2 The scope of this section 3.3 The problem 3.4 What is a therapeutic narrative?

Strategy No.11: The Artists Way Strategy No.12: Areas for personal development Strategy No.13: A humanities approach

3.5 What is writing therapy?

3.6 Is writing therapy effective? 3.7 Who should use writing therapy? 3.8 How should an individual guide their own therapeutic writing? 3.9 Key learning points Chapter 4: Writing therapeutic, autobiographical stories 4.1 Introduction

4.2 The problems of writing autobiographical stories 4.3 A personal illustration 4.4 A second personal illustration 4.5 Writing your own story of origins Chapter 5: A quick process for reframing or reinterpreting your problems Introducing the Quick Six Windows Model The quick process Chapter 6: The full Six Windows Model for reframing your problems 6.1: Introduction 6.2: Re-framing 6.3: Frame theory 6.4: Defining, describing and justifying this approach 6.5: The Mind Hut Model 6.6: Case illustration Chapter 7: The emotive-cognitive approach to values, goals and thinking in the process of self-management 7.1: Defining self-management

What is self-management? Strategy No.17A: Monitoring your moods and emotions Strategy No.17B: Arguing with yourself Strategy No.17C: A written dialogue with your Inner Critic Deciding to take responsibility for our lives

7.2: Identifying self-management aims and goals 7.3 A starting point

Strategy No.17D: Self-management work Improving your thinking:

7.4. Thinking globally using the Mind Hut

The value of completing your experience

7.5 Managing your mind 7.6 Problem solving 7.7 A review of the Windows Model 7.8 Applying the Windows Model to your life Chapter 8: Understanding and managing human emotions 8.1: Introduction 8.2: Buddhism and Stoicism on emotion 8.3: Another point of departure Evolutionary psychology 8.4 The origin of human emotions 8.5 The proximal cause of emotional disturbance 8.6 The evolutionary view 8.7 Understanding emotive-cognitive interactionism 8.8 Language and mentation 8.9 The social individual 8.10 Managing human emotions 8.11 Managing anger, anxiety and depression Chapter 9. Assessment of Human Needs 9.1 The E-CENT Emotional Needs Assessment Checklist 9.2 Definition of needs 9.3 Your scores and their meanings 9.4 What are psychological needs? Chapter 10: Adding writing therapy to face-to-face counselling sessions 10.1 Guidance for counsellors and psychotherapists 10.2 Three levels of therapeutic self-maintenance 10.3 Incorporating writing therapy into your face-to-face counselling practice

Unearthing client stories

10.4 A dissociated story approach

Partial dissociation Learning to re-frame difficult experiences The process of *completing* old traumatic memories

10.5 Resistance to completing old traumatic experiences 10.6 Additional ways of using writing therapy with face-to-face clients

The Basic Pennebaker approach Gillie Bolton workshops: A humanities approach More on the autobiographical approach to writing therapy

Chapter 11: Conclusion References Endnotes