Julie Guest Blogs: Write your illness away

This Guest Blog Post is from Julie Nam, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

Adjusting to an illness is not easy, especially if that illness is cancer. Ms. Kyle Potvin, a breast cancer patient, uses an effective technique, writing about her illness, but takes it up a notch, by creatively expressing her cancer through poetry. In her poems, Ms. Potvin disclosed her emotions, such as loss ad mortality, and processed her thoughts. The support for poetry writing as a therapy has been effective in diverse populations, such as people struggling with pain and adolescents struggling with bullying. People suffering from both physical and mental illnesses have, amazingly, found a way to fight for health through artistic approaches. Historically, this approach does make sense, considering that many of the greatest authors in literature wrote through their struggles. Read more about Ms. Potvin’s story and the research behind writing therapy here.