THERAPEUTIC JOURNAL WRITING:

How classic journal writing techniques can provide opportunities for client work and self-supervision

A one-day workshop to be facilitated by

Kate Thompson, Faculty member of The Center for Journal Therapy, Denver, USA

Sunday 12 June 2011    9.30 am - 5.00 pm

Fee: £65.00

"Journal therapy -- the purposeful and intentional use of reflective writing to further mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health and wellness -- is an effective means of providing focus and clarity to issues, concerns, conflicts and confusions" Kathleen Adams, Director, Center for Journal Therapy

About the workshop:

Journal writing offers opportunities to extend the therapeutic experience beyond the face-to-face encounter and to provide clients with a self-sustaining method of support after the contract has ended.  In addition it offers the practitioner techniques for self-supervison and reflective practice.

In this practical and experiential workshop we will explore classic journal writing techniques (such as dialogues, unsent letters, perspectives) which can be applied to both client work and self-supervision.  We will discuss key concepts such as 'Structure', 'Pacing' and 'Containment' and the importance of supervision.

Participants will have the opportunity to experience for themselves this kind of reflective process in the moment and there will be some opportunities (but no obligation) to read aloud what is written on the day.

This workshop is suitable for counsellors, psychotherapists, supervisors and healthcare professionals who wish to learn about journal writing for themselves or their clients -- indeed for anyone with an interest in the power of therapeutic writing and in learning how to use it in personal or professional settings.

About Kate Thompson MA (Eng Lit), MA (Counselling & Psychotherapy), BACP senior accredited Counsellor and Supervisor, Faculty member of The Center for Journal Therapy & The Therapeutic Writing Institute

After reading English at Cambridge, followed by her therapy training in London, Kate became a counsellor and supervisor working in private practice and the NHS for over 15 years.  She trained in journal therapy in Denver and now lives in the Rocky Mountains above Boulder, Colorado.

Kate is the author of Therapeutic Journal Writing - an introduction for professionals; and a co-editor with Gillie Bolton & Victoria Field of Writing Works: A Resource Handbook for Therapeutic Workshops & Activities, and Writing Routes: A Resource Handbook of Therapeutic Writing (all published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers).

She teaches courses at The Therapeutic Writing Institute and works face to face and online.  Kate says: "journal therapy combines my passions for literature and therapy, and my experience shows that it works".