DeSalvo, L. (2000).Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives.

Jauhar, Sandeep. (2014). Doctored: The disillusionment of an American physician. 

Writing has helped me heal. Writing has changed my life. Writing has saved my life.” These powerful first sentences of Louse DeSalvo’s Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Stories Transforms Our Lives immediately conveys the author’s strong belief in the curative power of writing. She posits that writing helps people to recover from “thorny experiences” and can help heal those suffering from a variety of situations, from dislocation and violence to rape and racism (4). DeSalvo is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Hunter College and is the author of over a half dozen books, so her advice is rooted in her own personal experiences of using writing as an instrument of healing.

She has also been able to witness firsthand the physical and emotional transformation of her writing students. She explains that by the end of their work, her students “look better, feel better…stand taller…[and] smile more” (12). Even though their work has required them to live through painful and troubling emotions, in the end, it makes them better writers and, overall, better people. She includes quotations from her students to support her observations. One student wrote, “I don’t feel like I’m the same person I was. Now, I own my story, because I know what it means. I feel more deeply, the pain, but the pleasure, too” (12). By including not only her own observations but her students’ feelings as well, DeSalvo allows the reader to receive feedback from those who have gone through the process themselves and reaped the benefits.

DeSalvo emphasizes the accessibility of writing and how this convenience is beneficial for the individual struggling with troubling emotions. She bluntly addresses the question, “Why write?,” explaining how writing is cheap, self-initiated, private (or public if desired), and requires no innate talent. She presents a strong case as to why writing is an effective therapeutic tool over other creative outlets and then provides a list of tasks to help initiate the writing process, giving the reader a starting point to begin their creative journey.

In the second chapter, DeSalvo supports her claims with scientific descriptions of how writing affects our brains and the physical body and indicates the particular type of writing that is most beneficial for healing. She references James W. Pennebaker’s Opening Up: The Healing Power of Confiding in Others, which summarizes ten years of scientific research into the connection between opening up about deeply troubling or extremely traumatic events and positive changes in immune function and the brain. She hones in on the experiments done by Pennebaker and his associate, Sandra Beall, at Southern Methodist University, which tested the relationship between writing and wellness in the students they studied.

While different groups of students received different instructions of what to write, the results were most telling for the group that was instructed to write simultaneously about events and emotions. Although writing about deep-rooted emotions connected to past traumatic experiences initially stirred negative feelings within the students, four months later, the results indicated that the students’ spirits had considerably improved and their writing had helped them resolve a difficult issue. The conclusions of the study illustrated that “to improve health, we must write detailed accounts, linking feelings with events” and in order to significantly improve well-being long term, one must initially endure difficult emotions (22). The research also discovered that writing merely about emotions, traumatic events, or superficial topics was not sufficient for improving health. The more the writing takes the form of a narrative, the more healthful and emotional benefits are derived from the process. DeSalvo makes a point to indicate which type of writing is the most beneficial so readers are not engaging in the process that will ultimately not benefit them. Additionally, grounding the benefits of the writing process in scientific terms can be reassuring for those who are doubtful of how therapeutic writing can actually be.

While DeSalvo advocates using writing as a therapeutic process for anyone, she specifically addresses how writing can benefit those with mental illnesses or wounded bodies. She includes examples of famous writers and how they utilized the writing process to heal their own mental or physical wounds. She describes how the Pulitzer-Prize winning author Alice Walker used her own deep personal pain from her childhood as inspiration to become a writer. As a child, Walker wrote to comfort herself from feelings of despair and loneliness, using writing as a sort of “spiritual alchemy” that transforms those devastating emotions into a “golden light” (154). She references other famous writers to illustrate the therapeutic process of writing is not merely for novices, but that even famous and acclaimed authors have used writing as a way of healing.

In addition to the mentally ill, DeSalvo examines how the writing process can also be a tool of healing for those with physical illnesses. She cites Arthur W. Frank’s The Wounded Storyteller in explaining how physical illness leaves us in a place of uncertainty and chaos. Writing allows people suffering to adjust their perspectives and begin to think of themselves differently as their body and life changes. Through writing, she states, “we maintain control over our lives” (202). 

She also asserts that it is important for those who are sick to leave a legacy to help others with similar experiences and feelings.

Throughout the advice within the book, DeSalvo includes quotations and examples from accomplished writers to emphasize how the writing process was therapeutic for them. Rather than simply stating advice, these examples show the reader that famous writers have not only reaped the healing benefits of writing, but gained acclaim for their work as well. At the beginning of each chapter, she includes inspiring quotations and proverbs that emphasize her main points that creative energy can be self-renewing and how that starving that energy is self-destructive. 

For those who may be lost in starting the process, DeSalvo provides numerous “do’s and don’ts” throughout the book to assist the novice writer in developing their creative outlet. She also debunks misconceptions of the writing process, such as “To begin a work, we must be inspired” (77). This is crucial for writers who feel prevented or blocked from starting or continuing their work. In addition to all of her personal advice, she also pulls from other sources to provide outsider input, referencing numerous authors, books, and articles about the creative process. If the reader is interested in expanding on the knowledge learned in DeSalvo’s book, she includes a list of further reading at the end to provide more sources for those beginning the writing process.

Finally, in the last chapter, she attempts to assuage the negative feelings that may come up during the writing process. It is important to address these troublesome feelings that emerge during reading or writing, as it is only through this acknowledgment can they be dealt with healthfully. Overall, DeSalvo’s Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Stories Transforms Our Lives is a useful starting point for those who are struggling with their own psychic or physical battles and are looking for a creative outlet for some relief.

Louise DeSalvo is an American author, professor, and lecturer based in New Jersey. She has published over 17 books, mostly focused on Italian-American culture, and is a renowned Virginia Woolf scholar. She also teaches memoir writing as a part of CUNY Hunter College’s MFA Program in Creative Writing.