71: When Pain Meets the Pen: Writing as Medicine with Elisa Friedlander

Episode 71: When Pain Meets the Pen: Writing as Medicine with Elisa FriedlanderWhat if the most powerful thing you could do in the middle of chronic pain wasn't to fight it, fix it, or push through it, but simply to write about it?In this episode of the Writing with Purpose podcast, I'm joined by Elisa Friedlander, licensed psychotherapist, Certified Journal Therapist, and writing workshop facilitator. Elisa helps people transform their relationship with chronic pain and illness through the written word. Her work has appeared in outlets including HuffPost, Wordgathering, and The Mighty, reaching thousands who live with chronic conditions. She is on the faculty of the Therapeutic Writing Institute, where she teaches her original Pain Meets Pen™ curriculum and other courses. Through her business, Ink To Insight, LLC, Elisa regularly facilitates Poetry Journalling with the general population and Pain Meets Pen™ workshops that explore how therapeutic writing can quiet chronic pain. Elisa is currently working on a book centred on this topic.Along with her professional expertise, Elisa’s personal journey with chronic pain, complex spinal surgeries, and multiple medical diagnoses, including complex regional pain syndrome, has shaped her approaches to teaching and workshop facilitation. In this conversation, we explore how writing became her medicine, how she uses dream journalling to process fear her waking mind tries to quell, and why the journal is the one place we can be entirely unfiltered. We talk about Elisa's bathtub writing practice, the healing power of nature, and the profound insight she reached through journalling: that pain could take many things from her life, but it would never take her essence.In This EpisodeHow Elisa's experience of failed spinal surgeries and a complex regional pain syndrome diagnosis led her to develop Pain Meets Pen™,The practice of illegible writingHow dream journalling helped Elisa recognise and process health fearsWhy the journal creates distance and closeness at the same timeThe role of nature, including an oak tree visible from Elisa's writing windowElisa's bathtub writing practice!Practical WisdomElisa shares practical approaches for anyone exploring writing as a healing practice, including:Illegible writing: write freely, then write over your words repeatedlyDream journalling as a form of body listeningGuided imagery before writingNature as a writing prompt sourceWriting from the body's perspectiveConnect with ElisaPlease connect with Elisa and explore her journalling and therapeutic writing workshops and newsletter:WebsitePain Meets Pen workshops and other coursesInstagramLinkedInFacebookUpcoming workshops: Monthly Poetry Journaling Workshops Pain Meets Pen™ Workshops Self-Compassion Writing for Quieting Chronic Pain and IllnessExpressive Therapies Summit: Pain Meets Pen™ for PsychotherapistsAlso Mentioned in This PodcastThe Correspondent by Virginia EvansThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankMary Oliver Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and LiteratureThe Therapeutic Writing InstitutePodcast Chapters00:00 Introduction to Therapeutic Writing and Chronic Pain09:03 The Impact of Childhood Literature on Resilience23:34 Navigating Chronic Pain and Identity30:43 The Role of Writing in Healing39:06 Workshops and Community Engagement01:05:32 Final Thoughts on Writing as a Healing Practice_ _ _ A new episode is released every other Saturday at 8 am.If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe to the Writing with Purpose podcast and leave a review. It makes a real difference in helping more people find the show.Listen on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | wherever you get your podcasts.Please download your free journal planner PDF and entrance meditation to kickstart your journalling journey.Please connect with me on your preferred platform by ⁠visiting my links pageJoin my bi-weekly Writing and Nature Connection newsletter