Wellness & Writing Connections

Compassionate letter : Imagine that someone you love is experiencing the same challenges that you are in the COVID-19 situation – perhaps you have a close friend, neighbor, or family member who is also navigating this experience as the parent of children the same age as yours. This person might be real or imagined. In a compassionate and respectful way, write a letter of encouragement with advice for your loved one based on your own experience and lessons learned so far. What encouragement might you offer to a dear friend facing similar challenges? What words might give them comfort or hope? What might you encourage them to forgive themselves for? Write for as long as you need to in order to bring the letter to a satisfying close.

Research opportunity #1: Expressive Writing for COVID-19 Resilience
In light of the extraordinary circumstances we are living through, we are conducting a study on expressive writing for resilience for adults who have been personally impacted by COVID-19 in some way. In addition to exploring the effect of expressive writing on resilience, the study will investigate the impact of writing on other aspects of emotional well-being.

What you should know about the Expressive Writing for COVID-19 Resilience study:

In order to be eligible for this study, you must be 18 years or older and feel personally impacted by COVID-19 in some way (e.g., feeling socially isolated, experiencing loss of work or income, anxiety about getting COVID-19, caring for sick loved ones)
If you choose to participate in the study, you will be asked to participate in 6-week, virtually delivered expressive writing intervention that will take place over Zoom and email.
Participation in this study is voluntary, and you are free to withdraw at any time. Your decision about participation in this study will not affect your regular care at Duke or in our clinic.

If you are interested in learning more about either of these studies and finding out if you are eligible to participate, please contact study coordinator Elizabeth Bechard by email at [email protected].

April 25 and 26 - Join 1440 Multiversity faculty member, writing clinician, and integrative-health coach John F. Evans as he guides you through an impactful series of expressive, transactional, poetic, affirmative, and mindful writing exercises to help you find a sense of calm during this time of uncertainty and beyond. In this live premium webinar, you will learn the following techniques:
Saturday, April 25
9:00-11:00 am: Expressive Writing: Since feelings come first, we express our emotions about what is closest to our hearts during this time, and we create our own stories about going beyond
1:00-3:00 pm Transactional Writing: Taking care of unfinished business of the heart and mind by creating unsent letters of compassion, forgiveness, and gratitude.
Sunday, April 26
9:00-11:00 am: Poetic Writing: Giving metaphor and narrative structure to our days, our relationship to our bodies, and granting ourselves permission to be who we need to be.
1:00-3:00 pm: Affirmative Writing: Naming and claiming our strengths and creating a language selfie we can take with us into the future. Mindful Writing: Learning a tool for awareness, attention, acceptance, affection, appreciation, and affirmation.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Expressive Writing for Resilience - Decreasing Rumination, Perceived Stress, and Depression. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Faculty: John F. Evans, MAT, MA, EdD Writing is a powerful tool that can help us direct awareness inward and open up to greater self-awareness, growth, and healing. Join 1440 Multiversity faculty member, writing clinician, and integrative-health coach John F. Evans as he guides you through an impact...

April 25 and 26 - Join 1440 Multiversity faculty member, writing clinician, and integrative-health coach John F. Evans as he guides you through an impactful series of expressive, transactional, poetic, affirmative, and mindful writing exercises to help you find a sense of calm during this time of uncertainty and beyond. In this live premium webinar, you will learn the following techniques:
Saturday, April 25
9:00-11:00 am: Expressive Writing: Since feelings come first, we express our emotions about what is closest to our hearts during this time, and we create our own stories about going beyond
1:00-3:00 pm Transactional Writing: Taking care of unfinished business of the heart and mind by creating unsent letters of compassion, forgiveness, and gratitude.
Sunday, April 26
9:00-11:00 am: Poetic Writing: Giving metaphor and narrative structure to our days, our relationship to our bodies, and granting ourselves permission to be who we need to be.
1:00-3:00 pm: Affirmative Writing: Naming and claiming our strengths and creating a language selfie we can take with us into the future. Mindful Writing: Learning a tool for awareness, attention, acceptance, affection, appreciation, and affirmation.
Please note that this is a two-day program.
Apr 25, 2020 09:00 AM
Apr 26, 2020 09:00 AMJoin me next weekend:

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Expressive Writing for Resilience - Decreasing Rumination, Perceived Stress, and Depression. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Faculty: John F. Evans, MAT, MA, EdD Writing is a powerful tool that can help us direct awareness inward and open up to greater self-awareness, growth, and healing. Join 1440 Multiversity faculty member, writing clinician, and integrative-health coach John F. Evans as he guides you through an impact...