In a recent piece for New York Times Magazine, “Why Talk Therapy is on the Wane and Writing Workshops are on the Rise,” writer Steve Almond compares traditional therapy to a different therapeutic process: creative writing.
“What really matters, it seems to me now, is that I was bored with my job as a newspaper reporter and depressed,” he writes. “I was living in exile from my family and driving away the people I loved with an astonishing efficiency. What I needed was therapy. As it happened, I applied for a Master of Fine Arts in fiction.”
Almond goes on to theorize that a generation ago, if you wanted to analyze and work through your emotional issues, you discussed them with your therapist. Now, you pour your words onto the page and join a creative writing group or writer’s workshop:
Consider this: Back when I started writing fiction in the early ’90s, there were a few dozen M.F.A. programs in the entire country. I had no idea the degree existed — and I was an English major from a liberal-arts college. Today, there are nearly 200 such programs, along with more than 600 other undergraduate and graduate degrees in creative writing. Thousands of people attend literary conferences and take courses at writing centers.
What do you think? Use Almond’s idea as a writing prompt in your personal journal.
Creative Writing vs. Traditional Therapy
1. First, start by writing your own definition for the word “therapy.” When you imagine therapeutic activities, what comes to mind? Do you see yourself lying on a couch, talking to a therapist or something different (for example, writing in your personal journal, hiking in the mountains or going out to dinner with your best friend)?
2. Have you ever gone to a therapist? Do you think traditional therapy has been or could be valuable for you? Describe what role therapy has played in your life.
3. Do you use the writing process as a way to work through emotional problems? What about writing do you find therapeutic? Try to pinpoint how journaling has helped you during challenging times.
My position is that Journaling Therapy/Journal Writing Therapy/Journal Therapy is replacing traditional talk therapy. It has to do with reclaiming personal responsibilty! By keeping a daily pen to page journal therapy practice, practice, practice, you discover who really lives in your body and realize that you are your own primary care provider! You call the shots in deciding what health resources you need to help you in working on your health and happiness!
Please weigh in on this. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings write now!
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And speaking of Journaling Therapy, Create Write Now will be offering its signature "Who Are You? 7 Days Self-Discovery Journaling Challenge May 7 - 14. You can sign up write here! 
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