incorporating creative letter writing into clinical practice

Student Hand Writing Letter At Home In The Night

Incorporating Creative Letter-Writing into Clinical Practice (2HR)

$32.00

Course Description

This training is a dynamic training for psychotherapists that explores the therapeutic potential of letter-writing as a tool for healing, self-reflection, and narrative transformation. This workshop will introduce various letter-writing techniques, including unsent letters to others, letters to different parts of oneself (the IFS-model) and letters to past/future selves, to support clients in processing emotions, redefining personal narratives, and fostering closure. Through experiential exercises and ethical considerations, you will learn how to integrate this powerful intervention into your practice to enhance client insight, resilience, and emotional expression.

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

Identify different types of letter-writing strategies
Identify the clinical benefits of letter-writing
Implement a wide range of letter-writing activities with clients

Social workers completing this course receive 2 Clinical asynchronous continuing education credits.

For other board approvals, this course qualifies for 2 Clinical continuing education training.

Course Instructor: Dreya Blume, LCSW

Recording Date: 07/09/2025

Course Format

NBCC ACEP # 7091, CE Training Workshops has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP #7091. Programs that do not qualify are clearly identified. CE Training Workshops is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. CE Training Workshops designates this continuing education activity for 3 continuing education hours.

CE Training Workshops, LLC, #1770, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/02/2025 to 08/02/2028. Social workers completing this course receive 3 Clinical continuing education credits.

Meet Your Facilitator

Dreya Blume, LCSW, has traveled a long and winding road to arrive where she is today,as a therapist, coach, author, and group facilitator.

She has taught English in Thailand, Japan, Australia, and Hawaii. She has worked in psychiatric wards, served as a case manager, and eventually launched her own private therapy practice.

She has taught part-time as an adjunct professor for over twenty years, led multi-day international retreats, and written seventeen books, with an eighteenth on the way.

Syllabus

Introduction

This course explores the therapeutic use of letter-writing as a powerful tool for emotional expression, insight-building, and healing. Participants will learn how structured writing practices help clients articulate difficult emotions, process unresolved experiences, and strengthen self-understanding in ways that support deeper therapeutic work.

Objective 1: Identify Different Types of Letter-Writing Strategies

Participants will examine a range of letter-writing approaches commonly used in clinical settings. These include letters written from the client to themselves, letters directed toward significant others—both past and present—and letters that address symptoms or internal parts of the self. Each strategy offers unique opportunities for reflection, empowerment, and meaning-making.

Objective 2: Identify the Clinical Benefits of Letter-Writing

This section highlights the therapeutic benefits of letter-writing as a modality for emotional processing and regulation. Participants will explore how writing facilitates catharsis, supports clarity, externalizes difficult experiences, and helps clients articulate feelings that may be challenging to express verbally. The course will also review how written expression contributes to integration and therapeutic momentum.

Objective 3: Implement a Wide Range of Letter-Writing Activities With Clients

Learners will develop practical skills for incorporating letter-writing into treatment plans across a variety of clinical contexts. This includes strategies centered on gratitude and compassion, applications within trauma treatment, and guidance on how to help clients process their writing during sessions. Participants will leave with adaptable frameworks they can immediately apply in practice.

Objective 4: Reflect and Integrate

The course concludes with a summary and Q&A. Participants will reflect on how letter-writing can enhance therapeutic depth, support client autonomy, and expand their clinical toolbox for facilitating meaningful emotional work.