Writing can help with stress, leadership abilities, physical and psychological health.
Work life can be stressful. There are targets to meet, competitors to beat and the ever ending responsibility of keeping employment morale high. If your staff are not happy, your business is not happy.
Happy staff are healthy staff!
According to government statistics stress affects:
- one in five of the working population.
- It is the single biggest cause of sickness in the UK.
- Over 105 million days are lost to stress each year – costing UK employers £1.24 billion.
- A survey of tens of thousands of GP’s sick notes found that 35 per cent of illnesses were linked to stress, anxiety or depression.
How can writing help you and your staff with stress?
The US social psychologist James W. Pennebaker from the University of Texas found from his research that, when people are given the opportunity to write about emotional turmoil, they often experience improved health. They go to the doctors less and have positive changes in their immune system.
He carries on to state that expressive writing allows people to take a step back to evaluate their lives instead of obsessing. Stress levels go down and health improves.
Testimonial
“I was a little apprehensive at first when I was asked to attend the writing workshop on ‘Wellbeing in the work space ’. But I went with it, as it was a day off work. After introductions Christina asked us to write the Alphabet down the page. She asked us to think of something that was stressing us and write a word or two for each letter. I was reluctant at first as I hate poetry, but after some prompts, it was quite revealing. Some of us shared our poems. From this we were asked to write for 10 minutes unedited using some words form the poems. Again I was shocked at how revealing of how I was feeling it was.
Christina then asked us to write a letter to the feeling, person or situation explaining how we felt. It felt silly especially as for me it was a feeling but once I started it was quite liberating. After that we had to write a letter from the feeling back to us. We ended by writing ways we could look after ourselves more. I left feeling more positive with loads of ideas on how I could make my working life better”. James 34
When employees attend these workshops they not only feel better but also feel that the company they work for cares about their wellbeing.
I would be delighted to help both company and employee by organising wellbeing writing workshops for employers and their staff members.
Happy, healthy staff makes for a happier, healthier workplace!
- I work on a one to one basis for a minimum of three hours after an initial consultation process. Sessions can be via skype, email or face to face.
- I run half day and full day workshops or over a weekend.
- I can tailor bespoke courses and classes in collaboration with your organisation meeting the needs of the group.
Contact me for more information, prices and bookings
Write Therapies 