Writing is Valuable

"The writing paradigm is exceptionally powerful, participants - from children to the elderly, from honor students to maximum security prisoners - disclose a remarkable range and depth of traumatic experiences.  Lost loves, deaths, incidents of sexual and physical abuse, and tragic failures are common themes in all of the studies.  If nothing else, the paradigm demonstrates that when individuals are given the opportunity to disclose deeply personal aspects of their lives, they readily do so.  Even though a large number of participants report crying or being deeply upset by the experience, the overwhelming majority report that the writing experience was valuable and meaningful in their lives (p. 162).

Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process by J.W. Pennebaker