Opening Up by Writing It Down: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain, Third Edition
James W. Pennebaker, PhD, and Joshua M. Smyth, PhD
Guilford Publications, Inc.
(Publication Date: July 01, 2016)

In a nutshell, [b:Opening Up by Writing It Down, Third Edition: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain|28090549|Opening Up by Writing It Down, Third Edition How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain|James W. Pennebaker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1450236185s/28090549.jpg|48093479] is an informative book that discusses how specific types of writing practices can aid in the healing process for individuals who have experienced a traumatic event. This book seems to be geared for professionals who work in the counseling field or within a therapeutic setting. Although my interpretation of the information is from the perspective of a lay person who has taken some psychology classes, I found the majority of material to be clearly stated and easy to understand.

It is important to mention there are copious amounts of scientific studies and references included within the text, which would be of importance to those working in the field of psychology or a therapeutic setting. For those individuals reading the book as a personal self-help guide, the chapters might seem too technical though. Having said that, I found the concept of therapeutic writing (or written emotional venting) to be interesting and can see how it might be a helpful tool for healing from emotional upheavals. For anyone who has gone through a personal trauma though, it would seem the writing exercises might be done in conjunction with guidance from a licensed therapist.

The authors make a point of explaining those situations where therapeutic writing might not be useful and often suggests other alternatives. I also appreciate the fact that the authors mention the specific differences between expressive writing and more commonly known forms of writing, such as daily journaling.

The final chapter in the book is probably the most helpful for the layperson, as it provides an overall summary and includes specific instructions for therapeutic writing exercises. Although there are other exercises inserted within various chapters, my preference is for writing exercises to be included at the end of corresponding chapters to aid readers in easily finding the information again.

For anyone who believes this type of writing will take a lot of time to achieve, according the authors it doesn’t. Although there aren't any magic numbers, fifteen minutes a day done over the course of four consecutive days, is the format suggested in the final therapeutic writing excercise in this book.

Overall, I found this book to be a worthwhile read from a personal perspective. While taking into consideration the target audience of the book, content and writing style, I chose to give [b:Opening Up by Writing It Down, Third Edition: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain|28090549|Opening Up by Writing It Down, Third Edition How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain|James W. Pennebaker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1450236185s/28090549.jpg|48093479] a rating of 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Guilford Publications for providing this book for me to preview. ( )