3/11/09 Lifestories II: A Journaling workshop with The Glass Castle. WestminsterPresbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 5127 Ave. U. 5:30-7:30 pm. With MichelleSierpina.
In the second of two workshops on journaling, Michelle Seirpina helped participants practice ways to tell their own stories.
This was a great workshop with 16 participants from the community.
Workshop Participants
· Discovered basics of journaling for self-reflection
· Reviewed peer reviewed literature on benefits of writing
· Learned the health benefits of attentive listening
· Practiced writing and sharing personal vignettes
· Received a comprehensive bibliography on personal writing
· Were introduced to lifestory protocols and research on lifestory at UTMB
· Became acquainted with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UTMB
Both sessions answered the question, “What is journaling?”
· Self-reflective writing—in journals, diaries and other daily records
· Techniques include flow writing, issue resolution, guided imagery, “morning pages,” and more
· Can be done daily, but not required
· Begin with your own pattern and structure—whatever works for you
Participants used proven techniques to begin their own writing.
· Keep your hand moving
· Do not edit…ignore spelling and grammar errors
· Stuck? Write it. “I don’t know what to write about…”
· Let the writing guide you
· Keep your pen moving
Sometimes it is difficult to know what to write about, so Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen recommends using these three questions:
· What surprised me today?
· What moved me or touched me today?
· What inspired me today?
Examples of the many research studies on the importance of writing your story presented at the workshop are:
· Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis and asthma, who wrote about stressful experiences, realized measurable health improvement (Smyth, et. al., 1999).
· Writing about personal experiences for only 15 minutes a day for three days, subjects demonstrated improvements in both physical and mental health—those who used more positive-emotion words gained most benefit. Pennebaker, J., & Seagal, J. (1999) Journal of Clinical Psychology 55(10)1243-1254
Many Lifestory protocols developed in OLLI at UTMB help people tell their stories:
· Introductory Lifestory
· Lifestory as Legacy
· Meaning among the Memories
· That’s Another Story
· Advanced Lifestory
· Lifestory on DVD
· Lifestory Theater
· Harris County RPO Writers Group
Lifestory Group Programs share the following elements
· Participants write and share their stories in a safe, caring environment during 8 weekly, two-hour sessions
· One person reads a story of about five minutes in length, while other members of the group listen attentively and with intentionality
· 12-16 seniors in each group are guided by a Trained Facilitator
Lifestory Groups follow these core principles:
· Life experiences shared in 5 minutes vignettes read aloud to the group
· Personal story ideas emerge from stories others read
· Authentic lifestories—no fiction—
· One Voice—one person speaks at a time, no “cross-talk,”
· No interruptions. Everyone listens attentively.
· The writing speaks for itself
· Participants find “One thing I liked in your writing…”
· Comments are on the writing, not on the writer
· Writers refrain from:
· Dialogue about content or missing details in the story
· Conversation about similar or shared life experiences
· Group advice or problem solving
In the second of two workshops on journaling, Michelle Seirpina helped participants practice ways to tell their own stories.
This was a great workshop with 16 participants from the community.
Workshop Participants
· Discovered basics of journaling for self-reflection
· Reviewed peer reviewed literature on benefits of writing
· Learned the health benefits of attentive listening
· Practiced writing and sharing personal vignettes
· Received a comprehensive bibliography on personal writing
· Were introduced to lifestory protocols and research on lifestory at UTMB
· Became acquainted with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UTMB
Both sessions answered the question, “What is journaling?”
· Self-reflective writing—in journals, diaries and other daily records
· Techniques include flow writing, issue resolution, guided imagery, “morning pages,” and more
· Can be done daily, but not required
· Begin with your own pattern and structure—whatever works for you
Participants used proven techniques to begin their own writing.
· Keep your hand moving
· Do not edit…ignore spelling and grammar errors
· Stuck? Write it. “I don’t know what to write about…”
· Let the writing guide you
· Keep your pen moving
Sometimes it is difficult to know what to write about, so Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen recommends using these three questions:
· What surprised me today?
· What moved me or touched me today?
· What inspired me today?
Examples of the many research studies on the importance of writing your story presented at the workshop are:
· Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis and asthma, who wrote about stressful experiences, realized measurable health improvement (Smyth, et. al., 1999).
· Writing about personal experiences for only 15 minutes a day for three days, subjects demonstrated improvements in both physical and mental health—those who used more positive-emotion words gained most benefit. Pennebaker, J., & Seagal, J. (1999) Journal of Clinical Psychology 55(10)1243-1254
Many Lifestory protocols developed in OLLI at UTMB help people tell their stories:
· Introductory Lifestory
· Lifestory as Legacy
· Meaning among the Memories
· That’s Another Story
· Advanced Lifestory
· Lifestory on DVD
· Lifestory Theater
· Harris County RPO Writers Group
Lifestory Group Programs share the following elements
· Participants write and share their stories in a safe, caring environment during 8 weekly, two-hour sessions
· One person reads a story of about five minutes in length, while other members of the group listen attentively and with intentionality
· 12-16 seniors in each group are guided by a Trained Facilitator
Lifestory Groups follow these core principles:
· Life experiences shared in 5 minutes vignettes read aloud to the group
· Personal story ideas emerge from stories others read
· Authentic lifestories—no fiction—
· One Voice—one person speaks at a time, no “cross-talk,”
· No interruptions. Everyone listens attentively.
· The writing speaks for itself
· Participants find “One thing I liked in your writing…”
· Comments are on the writing, not on the writer
· Writers refrain from:
· Dialogue about content or missing details in the story
· Conversation about similar or shared life experiences
· Group advice or problem solving
No comments:
Post a Comment