Most people write about their lives to gain perspective and to potentially share that perspective with others. Some argue that all writing is memoir writing. Jungian analysists posit that the stories we create as individuals, even fictional ones, are based on questions or problems we are seeking to better understand. Jung believed that that dreams are our subconscious trying to work out problems or questions that our subconscious has determined to be most important at that time. Jung also held that fairy tales are written by cultures or communities to represent the various ways that individuals grow, heal and mature by addressing psychological problems, with each character, action and part of the story representing an aspect of the human psyche.

Memoir writing is about looking at a portion of our life = be it a period of time, a particular topic or a relationship with a person, place, community, etc. and finding a new understanding of that portion to share with others. In order to find that new understanding we need to be able to look at our lives and ourselves from a new vantage point. If we cannot do that, we risk just becoming re-entrenched in a narrative that might not be serving us or sharing something that others can see right past into our ‘blind spots.’ 

Dr. Pennebaker the author of “Opening up – the Healing Power of Expressive Emotions” speaks about two main components needed for writing to be therapeutic:  1. Creating a coherent narrative; and 2. Shifting perspectives. These findings are also reported by Narrative Therapy founders Michael White and David Epstein.

The work of creative writing provides a venue for both tasks.  Jessica Lourey talks about the transformation she experienced writing ‘fictional’ mystery novels after the death of her husband by suicide in her book “Rewrite Your Life- Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction.” Writing ourselves and other characters into fictional characters can give the distance needed to get insight about things that have caused us confusion or hurt. Putting events into a narrative arc can provided meaning and closure showing us what might have been missing in the time we are writing about and provide options for what we might choose differently, if there is a choice, in the future.

Choosing a genre to help address the process can provide further structure to help with the narration which can also be therapeutic, for example, Lourey spoke about the experience of writing mystery after the death of her husband. Someone else might write horror to address their own phobias or fears.  Jen Cross, author of Writing Ourselves Whole speaks about writing erotic fiction to reclaim sexuality when there has been trauma in this area of one’s life.

Fairy Tales, fantasy, dreams, and science fiction are also genre’s that provide distance from real life experiences.

In each, the settings, the events and the characters can be symbolic of aspects of psyche, interpersonal relationships or even social/political events.

Join me and a small group of other travellers for a two day, in person transformative creative memoir writing therapy workshop, MAY 2 & 3, 2026, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to create cohesive narratives about events, relationships or periods of time in our lives that we want to be able to gain new perspective on. We’ll being examining all kinds of characters in our stories including parts of self, others, place and values as characters. We’ll also look at context and setting as literal and symbolic influences in our lives. and its influence. We’ll explore our stories plot & genres and much more through poetry, playwriting, symbolism, playwriting, etc. Whether you present your writing at fiction or non-fiction, the process will be therapeutic. Laughter and tears are guaranteed.

For more on Creative Writing therapy check out my other posts: Creative Writing Therapy -for Anxiety and Life As a Dream-Creative Writing Exercise and Creative Writing Therapy for Body Image-Poetry

Go to The Village Well for more info on the May 2 & 3rd Memoir writing workshop

Click here to register for The Creative Memoir Writing workshop