Writing things down is an effective way to process emotions and understand where you might be getting stuck. I don’t care if you are a terrible writer, if your handwriting is illegible and your grammar is questionable. If you find yourself writing below your standards, lower your standards. No one else ever needs to read what you write. Set a timer for five, ten, twenty minutes — whatever feels reasonable, and free write with zero judgment.

Writing prompts:

• NOTE: trauma can be incredibly hard to write about if you’re not ready. Be sure you have the support you need if you’re going to be writing about this.

• Do I feel like this trauma is holding me back in life? In what ways? What would life look like if that trauma was not holding me back?

• Do I have anger? Resentment? Fear? In what ways are those feelings helping or hurting me? What would need to happen for me to release those emotions?

• Do I see myself as traumatized or victimized? The labels we put on ourselves and others carry a lot of significance. What are the labels that you want to have in your life? Compassionate, healthy, curious, open-hearted? What are the labels that you want to shed? Good girl, needy, helpless, bossy, shy?

• Are there ways in which you can use your painful experience to support other people? What might that look like?

This writing prompt originally appeared with the article entitled PTS No D.

About This Photo
We took this photo hiking around Charlottesville.