SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.26 issue2Significações de doença, confronto sintomático e adaptação em pacientes de Reumatologia e Ortopedia: Uma abordagem desenvolvimentista e dialécticaPsicologia da Saúde Crítica: Breve revisão e perspectiva existencialista author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Journal

Article

Indicators

Related links

  • Have no similar articlesSimilars in SciELO

Share


Análise Psicológica

Print version ISSN 0870-8231

Aná. Psicológica vol.26 no.2 Lisboa Apr. 2008

 

Escrita terapêutica em contexto de saúde: Uma breve revisão (*)

 

Maria João Figueiras (**)

Dália Marcelino (**)

 

RESUMO

O presente artigo apresenta uma breve revisão sobre o paradigma da escrita terapêutica e a sua aplicação em contextos relacionados com a saúde. Refere ainda a importância dos aspectos cognitovos e emocionais para dar sentido às experiências vividas através da expressão escrita, salientando benefícios ou eventuais dificuldades sobre a utilização deste recurso. Esta revisão incide ainda sobre a forma como usamos as palavras na expressão escrita e como estas podem traduzir informação importante sobre o indivíduo, ou marcar a diferença entre temas considerados banais e temas significativos. Inclui também uma referência sobre a forma como a partilha social das emoções pode contribuir para a construção de uma memória sobre as experiências significativas, assim como a transformação dessas emoções em linguagem escrita pode promover o processamento mental com o objectivo de encontrar um significativo para o evento. A utilização da expressão escrita como uma ferramenta terapêutica pode ter grande potencial de utilização em contextos de saúde pode ser uma forma de auto-ajuda, quando usada só ou em conjunto com outras técnicas terapêuticas.

Palavras-chave: Escrita terapêutica, expressão escrita, partilha social, emoções.

 

ABSTRACT

This article includes a brief revision of the expressive writing paradigm and its application in health settings. It also refers the relevance of the cognitive and emotional factors for making sense of life experiences through the use of expressive writing, highlighting the benefits or difficulties concerning its use. The way in which we use the words in expressive writing gives important information concerning the individual and it is also an important aspect to differentiate between significant and usual themes. The social sharing of emotions can also contribute to build memories concerning significant events. Moreover, the expressive writing of these emotions can promote cognitive processing in order to make sense of the event. Using the expressive writing as a therapeutic tool in health contexts, either as self-help, or in combination with other techniques can have an important contribution for health outcomes.

Key words: Expressive writing, social sharing, emotion.

 

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text only available in PDF format.

 

REFERÊNCIAS

Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11, 338-346.         [ Links ]

Berry, D. S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1993). Nonverbal and verbal emotional expression and health. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 59, 11-19.

Cameron, L. D., & Nicholls, G. (1998). Expression of stressful experiences through writing: Effects of a self-regulation manipulation for pessimists and optimists. Health Psychology, 17, 84-92.

Campbell, R. S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2003). The secret life of pronouns: Flexibility in writing style and physical health. Psychological Science, 14, 60-65.

Francis, M. E., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1992). Putting stress into words: The impact of writing on physiological, absentee, and self-reported emotional well-being measures. American Journal of Health Promotion, 6, 280-286.

Greenberg, M. A., Wortman, C. B., & Stone, A. A. (1996). Health and psychological effects of emotional disclosure: A test of the inhibitionconfrontation approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 588-602.

Harber, K., & Pennebaker, J. (1992). Overcoming traumatic memories. In S. A. Christianson (Ed.), The handbook of emotion and memory: Research and theory (pp. 359-386). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Hockemeyer, J. R., Smyth, J. M., Anderson, C. F. et al. (1999). Is it safe to write? Evaluating the short-term distress produced by writing about emotionally traumatic experiences [abstract]. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 99.

King, L. A., & Miner, K. N. (2000). Writing about the perceived benefits of traumatic events: implications for physical health. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 220-230.

Lange, A., van de Ven, J. P., Schrieken, B. A. et al. (2000). Internet-mediated, protocol-driven treatment of psychological dysfunction. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 6, 15-21.

Lepore, S. J., & Smyth, J. M. (Eds.) (2002). The Writing Cure: How Expressive Writing Promotes Health and Emotional Well-being. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Lepore, S. J. (1997). Expressive writing moderates the relation between intrusive thoughts and depressive symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1030-1037.

Mehl, M. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2003). The sounds of social life: A psychometric analysis of students’ daily social environments and natural conversations. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 84 (4), 857-870.

Mosher, C. E., & Danoff-Burg, S. (2006). Health effects of expressive letter writing. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25 (10), 1122-1139.

Mulac, A., Bradac, J. J., & Gibbons, P. (2001). Empirical support for the gender-as-culture hypothesis: An intercultural analysis of male/female language differences. Human Communication Research, 27 (1), 121-152.

Mulac, A., & Lundell, T. L. (1994). Effects of gender-linked language differences in adults’ written discourse: Multivariate tests of language effects. Language & Communication, 14 (3), 299-309.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Chung, C. K. (2007). Expressive writing, emotional upheavals, and health. In H. Friedman & R. Silver (Eds.), Handbook of health psychology (pp. 263-284). New York: Oxford University Press.

Pennebaker, J. W., Mehl, M. R., & Niederhoffer, K. G. (2003). Psychological aspects of natural language use: Our words, our selves. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 547-577.

Pennebaker, J. W., Francis, M. E., & Booth, R. J. (2001). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC): LIWC2001. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Publishers.

Pennebaker, J. W., Zech, E., & Rimé, B. (2001). Disclosing and sharing emotion: Psychological, social and health consequences. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 517-544). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Pennebaker, J. W., Graybeal, A. (2001). Patterns of natural language use: Disclosure, personality, and social integration. Current Directions, 10, 90-93.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 1243-1254.

Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Opening up: The healing power of expressing emotions (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

Pennebaker, J. W., Mayne, T., & Francis, M. (1997). Linguistic predictors of adaptive bereavement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 863-871.

Pennebaker, J. W., Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., & Glaser, R. (1988). Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 781-793.

Pennebaker, J. W. (1993). Putting stress into words: Health, linguistic, and therapeutic implications. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 539-548.

Pennebaker, J. W. (Ed.) (1995). Emotion, disclosure, and health. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Beall, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 274-281.

Pennebaker, J. W., Colder, M., & Sharp, L. (1990). Accelerating the coping process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 528-537.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Francis, M. E. (1996). Cognitive, emotional, and language processes in disclosure. Cognition and Emotion, 10, 601-626.

Petrie, K. J., Fontanilla, I., Thomas, M. G., Booth, R. J., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2004). Effect of written emotional expression on immune function in patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection: A randomized trial. Psychosomatic Medicine, 66, 272-275.

Petrie, K. J., Booth, R. J., Pennebaker, J. W., Davison, K. P., & Thomas, M. G. (1995). Disclosure of trauma and immune response to a hepatitis B vaccination program. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 787-792.

Richards, J. M., Beal, W. E., Seagal, J. D. et al. (2000). Effects of disclosure of traumatic events on illness behavior among psychiatric prison inmates. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 156-160.

Rimé, B., Herbette, G., & Corsini, S. (2004). The social sharing of emotion: Illusory and Real Benefits of Talking about Emotional Experiences. In I. Nyklicek, L. R. Temoshok, & A. Vingerhoets (Eds.), Emotional expression and Health. Advances in theory, assessment and clinical applications (pp. 29-42). Hove, UK and New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.

Rime, B. (1995). Mental rumination, social sharing, and the recovery from emotional exposure. In J. W. Pennebaker (Ed.), Emotion, disclosure, & Health (pp. 271-292). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2007). Emotional expression and health. In S. Ayers, A. Baum, C. McManus, S. Newman, K. Wallston, J. Weinman, & R. West (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health & Medicine (2nd ed., pp. 84-86). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Sheese, B. E., Brown, E. L., & Graziano, W. G. (2004) Emotional expression in cyberspace. Searching for moderators of the Pennebaker disclosure effect via e-mail. Health Psychology, 23, 457-464.

Smith, J. M., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2001). What are the health effects of Disclosure? In A. Baum, T. A. Revenson, & J. E. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of Health Psychology (pp. 339-348). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Smyth, J. M. (1998). Written emotional expression. Effect sizes, outcome types, and moderating variables. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 174-184.

Snyder, D. K., Gordon, K., & Baucom, D. H. (2004). Treating affair couples. Extending the written disclosure paradigm to relationship trauma. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 155-159.

Spera, S., Buhrfeind, E., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1994). Expressive writing and job loss. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 722-733.

Thomson, R., Murachver, T., & Green, J. (2001). Where is the gender in gendered language? Psychological Science, 12, 171-175.

 

(*) Agradecimentos: Queremos agradecer aos indivíduos que contribuíram com os seus relatos para este trabalho. Os textos foram transcritos exactamente como os originais, incluindo a sua pontuação e eventuais incorrecções ortográficas. Alguns excertos dos textos foram omitidos, no sentido de não permitir a identificação de pessoas ou locais.

(**) Unidade de Investigação em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde, Instituto Piaget, ISEIT, Almada. E-mail: mfigueiras@almada.ipiaget.org

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License