A blast from the past Last week, through the magic of social media, I made contact with a penpal I’d last written to over a decade ago (she has since written a wonderful piece on catching up with old friends here). Exchanging letters is a wonderful way of making and cementing a bond. You share…
Tag: Writing
Writing my mind – some thoughts about the benefits and impacts of public and private journalling
Childhood diaries I’ve always used writing to know and to guide my mind in one way or another. Usually, this has taken the form of a diary or journal. In thinking about the part that writing has played in managing my mind, I had an interesting evening going through my old diaries and notebooks. The…
Metaphor, mental health and online support.
What is successful online support? There is no foolproof formula for successful online support. Using the written word to ensure someone feels listened to, understood, informed and positive about their next steps is a complex and varied task. As with any inexact science it’s much easier to identify when something is done right. It’s a lot…
The role of stories and writing in support for young people.
True stories online TheSite.org has published editorialised true stories for years. These stories enabled us to give a more personal angle to some of the issues we were addressing in articles, and to cover other more ‘newsy’ issues. The range of stories reflects the range of issues addressed on TheSite.org, from selling sex or coming off heroin to taking part in the student…