Potential Benefits for War Trauma Victims
It is widely acknowledged that trauma is prevalent among veterans, and research indicates that writing therapy can play a significant role in their self-healing journey. A primary contributor to trauma is the sense of powerlessness. Writing facilitates self-healing against this sense of helplessness through the strategy of mythologization.
Neil P Baird defines mythologization as the process of establishing standardized narratives that transform uncontrollable events into ones that are contained and predictable.[1] Janis Haswell expands on this concept by highlighting how individuals can utilize writing to manipulate and reshape the traumatic events they’ve experienced. This allows them to convey the emotional truths of their pasts to not only themselves but to others through the words on a page.[2]
Mark Bracher emphasizes the benefits of literacy in general for self-healing. His research indicates that literacy acknowledges the challenges veterans face during their deployment. This acknowledgement can in turn boost their morale and contribute to them feeling valued. Additionally, it aids in diminishing the recollection of distressing memories and reinforces one’s sense of self-identity.[3] Nancy Miller explores further the reinforcement of self-identity by examining Kim Phuc, a victim of napalm burns during the Vietnam War. In Kim’s biographical memoir, she sought to transform her portrayal from that of a helpless child frightened by war into a tale of forgiveness. Her objective with her writing was to illustrate how she overcame her trauma from war through her deliberate effort to reshape her past with a more optimistic perspective.[4]
Writing Poetry
Veteran Writer, Liam Corley, healed significantly from his trauma through the means of poetry. By sharing this method with fellow veterans and examining its positive impacts, Corley’s research indicates the concise nature and inherent significance of poetry works greatly for self-healing. This is because poetry fulfills the crucial need for self-expression and assists in providing a voice to those who have felt silenced.[5]
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- ^ "|". enculturation.net. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
- ^ Haswell, Janis (2005-01-01). "The Healing that Peace Did Not Bring: Second Generation Stories of the Viet Nam War". Journal of Teaching Writing. 22 (1): 1–32. ISSN 2374-2852.
- ^ Bracher, Mark (2004). "Healing Trauma, Preventing Violence: A Radical Agenda for Literary Study". JAC. 24 (3): 515–561. ISSN 2162-5190.
- ^ Miller, Nancy K. (2004). "The Girl in the Photograph: The Vietnam War and the Making of National Memory". JAC. 24 (2): 261–290. ISSN 2162-5190.
- ^ Corley, Liam (2012). ""Brave Words": Rehabilitating the Veteran-Writer". College English. 74 (4): 351–365. ISSN 0010-0994.