Tag Archives: community

Journaling Questions & Answers

Q&A: “How Can We Use Journaling for Healing After Community Tragedy?”

Journaling Questions & AnswersThe traumatic student shooting in Columbine, Colorado (April 1999). Racial tragedies such as those in Charleston, South Carolina (2015) and Ferguson, Missouri (2014). The Los Angeles race riots of 1992. The World Trade Center collapse of 9/11.  Events so profoundly sad and far-reaching inspire many people turn to their journals for reflection, prayer, grieving, and hope. Is it possible that journal-writing can offer healing on a community level? This precious question came from a member of Kay Adams’ Journal-to-the-Self community. For those who advocate a healthy journaling practice, how can one use their knowledge and training to bring strength and peace to entire communities of people in their time of need?

Jayde Gilmore and I discuss several ideas and resources, such as James Pennebaker’s Writing to Heal, John Evans’ work, and Lynda Monk’s Writing Alone Together. I am delighted that there are people both skilled and caring enough to bring this work to communities of people, and this episode will hopefully encourage more to prepare to do the same.

Your turn to answer: How can journal-writing be offered to communities who have suffered? Or, to mend the relationship between two groups of people? What ways have you shared the healing of power of words on a community level? Post your responses at the bottom of this webpage, in the comments section.

You may email your own journaling question to be featured on a future episode of JournalTalk. Or, pick up the telephone and leave a voicemail with your question at 1-805-751-6280 (only normal toll charges may apply). When your question is featured, we will send you a thank-you gift for sharing your voice! (JournalTalk Q&A, Episode #31, July 21, 2015)

Credits:
Audio Editing: Netrix Marketing
Music: Pond5.com
Voiceover: Thomas Gerrard

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Lynda Monk on JournalTalk

Journaling in Groups

JT_Lynda_Monk

It’s one thing to achieve personal transformation through the act and habit of journaling.  But there’s a new trend emerging among journal-writers: taking that transformation to the level of community.  My guest this episode is Lynda Monk, who has been journaling with her friends for several years, and ready to launch a book on the experience, Writing Alone Together:  Women Journaling for Creativity, Compassion and Community.

Lynda has been a Social Worker in Canada, for over 20 years, including 10 years of crisis intervention and counseling work.  In 2000, she founded Creative Wellness — a coaching and training business specializing in supporting the stress and burnout prevention needs of helping and healthcare professionals.  In 2009, Lynda became a Certified Co-Active Life Coach, and turned her passion for the transformational and healing power of therapeutic journaling into the heart of her business.  She offers “Writing for Wellness” workshops, presentations and coaching programs to  helpers, healers, caregivers and conscious-living enthusiasts.

Her company provides access to a wealth of resources for both the individual as well as organizations that seek enlivened practice and healthy living.   Her “Writing for Wellness: Getting Started Guide” (available for free on her website) is an impressive introduction to the art of therapeutic journaling, and is just one of the free resources she offers.

As you listen to my interview with Lynda, we’ll explore a powerful dynamic of journaling within the context of community.  Lynda touches on the power of storytelling, and encourages us to consider beginning our own journaling circle, for many of the same reasons a book enthusiast would join a book club.  I also appreciated the way Lynda so beautifully acknowledged how this podcast series itself is a project of community-building amongst journaling advocates.  (JournalTalk, Episode #11, July 22, 2013)

Credits:
Music: Alexander L’Estrange / Joanna Forbes ”Ooh Yeah” AudioNetwork.com
Voiceover: Tami Egbert and Kym Maher
Logo Art: Wendy Kipfmiller, Snixysnix.com

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Episode #7: Journaling Out of the Whirlwind

Journaling Out of the Whirlwind

I am consistently impressed with each person I meet in the field of journaling; we are authentically glad to share our secrets, techniques, and we sincerely want to work in collaboration with one another.  My guest this week is Michael Pearlman, M.D., and while he is exceptionally gifted in the area of journal therapy, he is no exception to the generosity I have found among journaling teachers.  What sets Dr. Pearlman apart from others is the unique system he developed for transformative journaling he calls Out of the Whirlwind.  It’s free, online, confidential, and easy to use.

JT_Michael_Pearlman_OOTWWThis episode, Dr. Pearlman walks me through the five writing prompts of his online journaling tool, after I choose an area of focus.  The five prompts: APPRECIATION, KNOWING, MY VISION, CURRENT REALITY, and ACTION.  Listen as I transform a nerve-wracking dentist visit into “loving my mouth and all its inhabitants”.  You can also receive free training in this tool with Dr. Pearlman himself, on “Free Coaching Thursdays” once you start using the online journal.

Dr. Pearlman invites me (and by extension, all journaling coaches, and JournalTalk fans too) to participate in the expansion and co-creation of the future of this tool.  Check out this powerful method for getting to the heart of any issue.  Let us know what you think, and how you could use it in your own journaling practice!  Your comments below are encouraged!  (JournalTalk, Episode #7, May 27, 2013)

Credits
Music: Alexander L’Estrange / Joanna Forbes ”Ooh Yeah” AudioNetwork.com
Voiceover: Tami Egbert
Logo Art: Wendy Kipfmiller, Snixysnix.com

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To Listen:
Click on the “play” button > below.