Expressive Writing and Its Benefits - An Alternative to Psychotherapy

One method of expressing emotions is through writing. The first study published in 1986 by Pennebaker and Beall found that writing about emotions and thoughts surrounding deeply personal issues for 15 minutes per day on 4 consecutive days resulted in better physical health outcomes such as fewer visits to the physicians in the months following the study and fewer reports of aspirin usage. The results of this initial study have led to the development of other studies using the writing paradigm. In this book, we discuss in detail an Expressive Writing Study conducted with a group of First-year Psychology students from a University in Singapore.