Letter Writing as a Clinical Tool in Grief Psychotherapy

The benefits of expressive writing have been explored since at least the 1980s. The effect of expressive bereavement-related writing has been studied primarily in college students, yielding inconclusive results. Nonetheless, recent effective, integrated psychotherapy protocols, targeting complicated and prolonged grief, include writing assignments, typically in the form of letters. The present paper explores how and why letter writing might be effective and meaningful as a therapeutic tool in the context of grief psychotherapy. It describes how working with letters, addressed to the deceased, might help facilitate self-disclosure, promote exposure to what is avoided, confront unfinished business, encourage continuing bonds, and help achieve a coherent narrative around experiences with the loss. As a therapeutic tool, letter writing has the potential to be helpful to many bereaved people, as it is a simple, effective, and meaningful way to access and work with relevant clinical material in the context of psychotherapy.

Letters from Queer Elders: Transmitting Intergenerational Wisdom in LGBTQ+ Communities

Intergenerational relationships have been established as a critical locus of psychosocial development, meeting needs of identity development for youth, generativity for elders, and connection and belonging for both. However, intergenerational relationships are both rare in the LGBTQ+ community and sorely needed as a buffer to the discrimination and harm that those within the community experience from systemic and structural oppression. Focusing on sexual identity, and employing a letter writing paradigm, we investigated the content of wisdom that LGB elders have to share with youth. In a descriptive, exploratory, mixed-methods, and pre-registered study, 94 adults ranging in age 50 to 79 years (M = 55.98; SD = 6.30) wrote letters to a fictional youth, Sam, as well as completed surveys of psychosocial development and well-being. Letters were content coded for themes, as well as for emotional tone and subjective perspective. The most common themes of wisdom shared included knowing and celebrating oneself, negotiating an oppressive society, and finding one's community. Those who wrote more emotionally positive letters scored higher on measures of wisdom and generativity, and lower on embitterment. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of cultivating opportunities for wisdom-sharing within LGBTQ+ communities to promote flourishing across the lifespan.

Postman:" Exploring the Use of Letter Writing to Address Loneliness

PURPOSE

Informed by prior research and influenced by concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic heightened social isolation, this project examined the impact of a 12-month long letter writing project on levels of loneliness.

METHOD

Through partnerships with local anti-poverty agencies, pen pals were paired between MSW students and community members who utilize services at these organizations. Participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale before and after the intervention.

RESULTS

We found a mean decrease in loneliness at the end of the intervention.

DISCUSSION

Letter writing was a successful way to attend to loneliness due to its accessibility to the participants. Our letter writing intervention is different in many ways from e-mail and texting. Participants noted that the waiting process between letter gave them time to think more deeply about their response as well as event to look forward to (e.g. getting mail). We found that the low-tech aspects of the project might have been helpful to some participants.

CONCLUSION

Letter writing is an easily replicable, low-cost, low-tech activity for use by practitioners, which may be useful in a variety of social work settings to reduce loneliness.

Barrett's Power Theory: Re-Conceptualizing the Pediatric Organ Donation Experience With Letter Writing

Pediatric organ donation is often a time of reported turbulence and isolation for both families involved. Communication through letter writing is a way for those families to connect and heal, if they choose to participate. Barrett's Power as Knowing in Participation in Change Theory, with its accompanying health patterning, is applicable to this experience by facilitating awareness, choices, freedom to act intentionally, and involvement in the change process related to the pediatric organ donation process. Two families' experiences connected through organ donation and letter writing, as conceptualized through the lens of Barrett's Power Theory, supported future use of patterning of knowing participation in change for families.

'I Haue Ben Crised and Besy': Illness and Resilience in the Fifteenth-Century Stonor Letters

The modern and medieval meanings of words reporting ill health often bear little resemblance to one another. This article compares the use of 'diseased' and 'sick' in the fifteenth-century Stonor family letters. It examines the word 'crased', which implies physical ill health most directly, but also suggests emotional, psychological, or spiritual distress in female family members especially. The article then turns to the practical implications of poor health, asking how and why it affected the day-to-day concerns of the Stonors and their associates. It uncovers compelling evidence for resilience in the face of many and competing calls of duty. Finally, the article presents unique palaeographical evidence for the impact of illness, where a correspondent is so 'seke' that he can scarcely hold his pen.