In an easy-to-use workbook format this publication offers a strengths based, preventative, positive approach, grounded in neuroscience research, for creating a stronger sense of overall well-being. It contains more than 65 unique writing prompts and a facilitator's guide with complete facilitation plans for 1-hour, 90 minutes and 2-hour groups.
Deborah Ross, LPC is a licensed psychotherapist in the Washington DC area. She has graduated from both the Mindsight Institute's program in interpersonal neurobiology and the Therapeutic Writing Institute, from which she earned the Certified Journal Therapist credential.
Kathleen Adams LPC is a licensed psychotherapist in Denver, Colorado. She is the founder/director of the Center for Journal Therapy and the online Therapeutic Writing Institute and is the series editor for the It's Easy to W.R.I.T.E. expressive writing series.
Foreword
Preface
Dear Reader: An Introduction to the Workbook
Section 1: A User-Friendly Guide to Your Brain and Your Journal
1. Prelude
2. Welcome to Neuroplasticity
3. The Art and Science of Expressive Writing
4. The Journal Ladder
5. Brain Maps
6. The Reflection Write
Section 2: The Write Way to Positive Brain Change
7. The Brain as Velcro® and Teflon®
8. Your Limbic System
9. The Brain Takes the Shape the Mind Rests Upon
10. Neural Darwinism
11. Neurons that Fire Together, Wire Together
12. For Your Olfactory Delight
13. The Masking of a Negative is Not a Positive
14. From Positive State to Positive Trait
15. Building Neural Circuitry
16. Series of Three
17. And Now for Something Completely Different
18. Anticipate a Blossoming of Creative Delight
19. Short Bursts of Radiance
20. A Radical Departure
21. Overwriting the Negative
Section 3: Our Last Collective Firings
22. Reprise: Your Brain Takes the Shape Your Mind Rests Upon
23. Bridging Into the Future
References
Literature Review: Evidence-Based Research on Expressive Writing
Acknowledgments
About the Authors