Preface. Introduction. 1. Write Yourself. 2. Writing to Help Find Yourself. 3. Writing with Anxious or Depressed People. 4. Creative Writing within Counselling and Therapy. 5. Writing with the Very Sick. 6. Writing with Children. 7. Writing to Help with Substance Abuse. 8. Reflective Writing for Professional Development. 9. How to Run a Group. 10. Residential Writing Retreats. 11. Writing Poetry. 12. The Power of Reading. 13. Dialogue with a Poetry Therapist. Appendices.

Write Yourself is the ideal introduction to how to facilitate groups and individuals in finding inspiration for their creative personal writing voices. This book explains how and why writing is such an illuminative, healing, and cathartic process, and provides many practical exercises that encourage the exploration of emotions, memories and experiences. Chapters cover the use of writing with a variety of client groups, including those made up of people suffering from depression, anxiety or health problems, and advice is given both on running and participating in successful writing groups.
This book will be an invaluable resource for professionals working across the health, social care and caring professions, arts therapists and for everyone interested in the therapeutic qualities of creative writing.

Gillie Bolton has worked in reflective and therapeutic writing for personal and professional development for twenty-five years, and has written and edited five books, one of which is now in its third edition. A grandmother of three, she lives in Bloomsbury, London, and Hope Valley, Derbyshire.