Expressive Writing for Healing: Journal Your Way From Grief to Hope

(Paperback)

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand. C. Day-Lewis

Writing is one of the oldest and most effective means of self-exploration, self-expression, and self-discovery. In this new guided journal, Mary Potter Kenyon offers readers an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and significance of loss and allows the griever to sort through all the conflicting emotions that arise after a death. By interweaving her own experiences of loss, the proven research behind writing as a method for healing, and blank pages with carefully chosen quotes, Kenyon gives readers space to express the feelings that are sometimes too painful to speak aloud.

Reviews

"For more than 40 years, Ive journaled almost daily. During the months just before and just after my wifes death, journaling was the source of immense relief. As I readExpressive Writing for Healing,I realized I had faced many of the same struggles. Its never over. But life does take on deeper meaning, and we emerge from our griefdifferent but stronger."
CECIL MURPHEY, author and coauthor of 140 books, including90 Minutes in Heavenwith Don Piper, Dr. Ben Carsons autobiography,Gifted Hands,and thegift booksWhen Someone You Love Has Cancer, When Someone You Love No Longer Remembers,andSaying Good-byewith Gary Roe

"Mary Potter Kenyon has effectively shared the depths of her heart while gently guiding us through the pain and confusion of grief. As she tells her story, her words give us clear and strong motivation to journal our way through our own stories as we work toward healing. My husband died suddenly nearly twenty years ago, but Marys words reminded me of the timeless realities of grief that can only be communicated by someone who has been there. Youll find comfort, hope, practical guidance, and inspiration here. I hope youll open your journal and start writing . . . "
JUDY BRIZENDINE, author ofStunned By GriefandStunned By Grief Journal

"Mary Potter Kenyon's Expressive Writing for Healingis a wonderful book and concept, serving as a road map for the bereaved with wide margins to record the reflections of the journey. Memories of our loved ones do not fade, but recollections of our journey may. This book allows you to document your journey in a meaningful way. William Wordsworth once said 'Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of emotions recollected in tranquility.' Expressive Writing for Healing allows us to do that: record the poetry from our grieving but hope-filled heart. This book is an inspirational tool for your grief tool box. "
MITCH CARMODY, author of Letters to My Sonand highly-sought after speaker for Compassionate Friends and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)

"Beautifully written, warm, compassionate, and intensely practical,Expressive Writing for Healingwas a delight to read and engage with. Mary does a wonderful job of combining her own personal grief experiences and the thoughts of others to guide the reader in expressing and moving through their pain. I only wish I had possessed such a resource during my times of loss."
GARY ROE, grief counselor and award-winning author of numerous grief books, includingShattered: Surviving the Loss of a Child,Heartbroken: Healing from the Loss of a Spouse, andPlease Be Patient, I'm Grieving

"An inspired and amazing resource. In a culture which seeks to avoid pain, Mary Kenyon doesnt show you the way around your heartache, but takes your hand and gently guides you through it.Expressive Writing for Healingis the most powerfully framed journal Ive ever read. Having lost her mother, husband, and grandsonwithin 17 monthsof each other, Mary has stitched her soul onto these pages, and then invites you to do the same. This helpful tool is sure to be a welcome companion to the bereaved."
JOCELYN GREEN, author ofFree to Lean: Making Peace With Your Lopsided Lifeand Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives
"This inspiring story of personal attempts to deal with grief in times of bereavement brings recognition that we each have our own pattern of mourning, and while weeping is one form of comfort, the support of friends and family is another necessary bolster. Solace can be kindled to assist in this journey toward hope by maintaining a writing journal for the purpose of uttering current sentiments, pulling in past memories, reflecting on impressions, recording book excerpts, and including a collage of inner emotions."
Seattle Book Review

Author Bio

Mary Potter Kenyon works as Program Coordinator for Shalom Spirituality Center and is a public speaker, a workshop presenter, and a writing instructor. Mary is the author of five previous Familius titles, including the award-winning Refined by Fire: A Journey of Grief and Grace, and is widely published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies, including ten Chicken Soup for the Soul books.