Introduce Yourself : Writing as therapy by William Frank Georgi

It is meditative. It is joyous. It is purposeful. But it is also tragic, violent and emotional. It is as therapeutic as one allows it to be. I do see writing as a therapeutic outlet, I could be doing a lot worse with my time!

Hi William! I can say writing has definitely been my therapy. I started writing screenplays when I was working as a counsellor, which included work in addiction, grief and loss, trauma etc. I would travel around the countryside a fair bit between offices and towns seeing clients all over the place. During these drives, I would be listening to music, most usually from movie scores. It helped me deal with the stress of the job. But I also started to come up with these plots and characters and would revisit them when I was driving. So, I naturally ended up (after I finally told myself to put these thoughts to good use) to writing down some of the plots and characters. The job was enormously stressful and I ended up burning out. But I would never have lasted as long as I did in that job if I didn't have my writing, my stories and my characters. For me, now, writing is a perfect escape. When I am stressed I spend time brainstorming my screenplays and characters and ideas for future projects or scenes. Suffering from trauma, myself, which was triggered and worsened by the stress of my working as a counsellor, I can say writing has saved my life. My imagination, even as a kid, was a protective factor I never fully understood until adulthood. I am grateful for my stories and ideas, and for the ever-changing and textural world of my imagination. I think if writing therapeutic to you, then do it as often as you need to and then some!