The Self on the Page: Theory and Practice of Creative Writing in Personal Development

by Celia Hunt (Editor), Fiona Sampson (Series Editor)

Examining the potential of creative writing as a therapeutic tool, particularly in terms of its influence on the self and personal development, The Self on the Page is divided into two parts. In Part One representative practitioners provide an overview of current work in the field, based on their experience of conducting courses, workshops and research projects with creative writing students, and clients as diverse as people with learning disabilities or dementia and people in hospices, using various genres of creative writing from poetry to autobiography and literary fiction. This section also contains many practical suggestions for writing techniques that can be used for personal development, whether working with writers' groups or with client groups in health care and the social services. Part Two explores the theoretical background to the therapeutic uses of creative writing, with particular reference to psychoanalysis, philosophy of language, and literary and social theory. Illustrating a wide range of different approaches, the contributors provide an introduction to thinking about creative writing in a personal development context with suggestions for further reading, and look at the potential evolution of therapeutic creative writing in the future. Academics with an interest in textual practice, language and cultural theory; practitioners and theorists of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis; arts therapists and their educators; arts providers.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Elliot A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides the necessary framework in order to write for personal development; however, I found it difficult to read, most likely due to its heavy emotional undertones.

Nevertheless, it is a must read for anyone interested in the practice of writing for personal development.

ElliotScribbles

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Self on the Page, Celia Hunt and Fiona Sampson present us with a sampling of the work that is being practiced in an emerging field that uses personal creative writing techniques for therapy and personal development. The book is a compilation of papers from various practitioners. The first part of the book presents the experiences that therapists have had using various writing projects with diverse groups, and the second part looks at the theory behind these approaches. People working in the helping professions, such as psychologists, nurses, social workers, and teachers could benefit from the readings in this book as it presents practical ideas that could be used for writing activities, and also gives the background to these approaches.