Clinical implications of writing therapy Since the foundation research conducted in the 1980s by James W. Pennebaker, there have been further studies demonstrating that expressive writing may act as an agent to increase long-term health. Expressive writing can result in physiological, psychological, and biological outcomes, and is part of the emerging field of the medical humanities . There are experiments demonstrating quantitative physiological readout such as changes in immune counts, blood pressure, as well as qualitative readouts relating to psychiatric symptoms. Research implementing expressive writing interventions in clinical settings indicates that there are potential benefits to incorporating writing therapy into treatment plans. However, the specifics of such expressive writing procedures or protocols, and the populations most likely to benefit from it are not entirely clear. Potential benefits for cancer patients Illness and disease is experienced on multiple different fronts: biological, psychological, and social. Cancer especially becomes a part of the patient’s daily life, invading the very identity of the person diagnosed with the disease. Recent research has explored how narrative medicine and expressive writing, independently, may play a therapeutic role in chronic diseases such as cancer. Comparisons in practice have been made between expressive writing and psychotherapy. A similar thinking style has already been incorporated into the medical field by designations such as integrative, holistic, humanistic or complementary medicine . These involve including spirituality, meditation, wellness and other supplemental care practices into treatment . Expressive writing is self-administered with minimal prompting , and with further research and refinement  it may be used as a more cost effective potential alternative to psychotherapy , examine the benefits and drawbacks . Experiments , systematic reviews, and meta-analyses conducted recently examining the effectiveness of expressive writing in reducing negative physical and psychological symptoms experienced by cancer patients yielded primarily non-significant initial results. These results suggest that expressive writing is likely not generally applicable as a therapeutic interventions. However, analysis of sub-groups and moderating variables suggest that particular symptoms, or situations, may benefit some more than others with the implementation of an expressive writing intervention. For example, a review by Antoni and Dhabhar (2019) examined how psychosocial stress negatively impacts the immune response of patients with cancer. It is important to acknowledge that even if an expressive writing intervention cannot directly impact cancer prognosis, it may play an important role in mediating factors such as chronic stress, trauma, depression, and anxiety.
Clinical implications of writing therapy Additional research since the 1980s has demonstrated that that expressive writing may act as an agent to increase long-term health. Expressive writing can result in physiological, psychological, and biological outcomes, and is part of the emerging medical humanities field. Experiments demonstrate quantitative physiological readout such as changes in immune counts, blood pressure, in addition to qualitative readouts relating to psychiatric symptoms. Past attempts at implementing expressive writing interventions in clinical settings indicate that there are potential benefits for treatment plans. However, the specifics of such expressive writing procedures or protocols, and the populations most likely to benefit are not entirely clear. Potential benefits for cancer patients Illness and disease is experienced on multiple different fronts: biological, psychological, and social. Recent research has explored how narrative medicine and expressive writing, independently, may play a therapeutic role in chronic diseases such as cancer. Comparisons in practice have been made between expressive writing and psychotherapy. Similarly, practices such as: integrative, holistic, humanistic or complementary medicine have already been incorporated into the field . Expressive writing is self-administered with minimal prompting . With further research and refinement , it may be used as a more cost effective alternative to psychotherapy . Recent experiments , systematic reviews, and meta-analyses examining the effects of expressive writing on ameliorating negative cancer symptoms yielded primarily non-significant initial results. However, analysis of sub-groups and moderating variables suggest that particular symptoms, or situations, may benefit some more than others with the implementation of an expressive writing intervention. For example, a review by Antoni and Dhabhar (2019) examined how psychosocial stress negatively impacts the immune response of patients with cancer. Even if an expressive writing intervention cannot directly impact cancer prognosis, it may play an important role in mediating factors such as chronic stress, trauma, depression, and anxiety.
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