S1:E22 How Expressive Writing Helps You Move Beyond Setbacks 10-Minutes a Day
In this episode of the Flourishing After Adversity Podcast, host Laura Mangum Broome explores the transformative effects of expressive writing for emotional healing. Learn how just 10 minutes a day of writing can help process emotional pain, integrate into Laura's iCope2Hope resilience framework, and start your own practice to clear the fog and strengthen your resilience. Featuring the story of Marianne—a woman who found purpose and clarity after an unexpected back surgery—and insights from Dr. James Pennebaker's research on the mental and physical benefits of writing, this episode provides actionable steps to face reality, discover hidden strengths, and envision new possibilities.
Laura also introduces a four-day expressive writing challenge and outlines the iCOPE 5-Step Problem Solving Method to guide listeners towards emotional clarity and practical resilience.
00:00 Introduction to Expressive Writing
01:10 Meet Maryanne: A Story of Transformation
01:55 The Science Behind Expressive Writing
02:37 Step-by-Step Resilience Framework
05:12 Common Traps and How to Avoid Them
05:52 The Four-Day Expressive Writing Challenge
06:48 Applying the iCOPE 5-Step Problem Solving Method
08:33 Conclusion and Recap
Free Resource: Reframe the Spiral: 5 Quick Coping Strategies to Shift Negative Thoughts and Reclaim Your Day https://www.icope2hope.com/reframe
iCope2Hope 3-Step Resilience Framework: https://bit.ly/FrameworkRoadmap
Website: iCope2Hope: From Hardship to Hope https://www.icope2hope.com
Move Beyond Adversity Blog: https://www.icope2hope.com/blog
Free Newsletter: Wednesday’s Resilient Recharge https://www.icope2hope.com/newsletter
Episode Transcript
Discover how 10 minutes ofwriting can shift chaos into
calm.
Today we're exploring somethingsimple but powerful, how
expressive writing can help youmove through change.
By the end of this episode,you'll understand why expressive
writing helps heal emotionalpain, how it connects to my
iCope2Hope resilience frameworkand how to start your own short
(00:25):
writing practice that clears thefog and strengthens your
resilience.
Welcome to the Flourishing AfterAdversity Podcast.
I'm your host, Laura MangumBroome, Resilience Coach and
author of Flourishing AfterAdversity.
If you've been knocked down byloss, illness, or unexpected
change, you're in the rightplace.
(00:47):
This is where we talk about howto rise again with honesty,
grace, and a plan that works.
Before we dive in, if you'vebeen stuck in a spiral of
negative thoughts, grab my freeguide.
Reframe the spiral, five quickcoping strategies to shift
negative thoughts and reclaimyour day.
(01:08):
You'll find the link in the shownotes.
let me tell you about Maryanne.
After an unexpected backsurgery, she couldn't recognize
her own life.
She'd gone from active andindependent to still and
uncertain friends, told hershe'd be back to normal soon,
but she wasn't sure what normaleven meant anymore.
(01:30):
Her counselor suggestedsomething strange.
Write about what you're feelingfor 10 minutes a day.
Not a gratitude list, just rawtruth.
By day three, something shifted.
Maryanne wasn't just listingpain anymore.
She was finding meaning in it.
Writing didn't fix her body, butit started healing her spirit.
(01:55):
Expressive writing isn't aboutgrammar or journaling your day.
It's about putting your truth onpaper, the words you've been
holding in.
Dr.
James Pennebaker, author ofOpening Up by Writing It Down
discovered that people who writeabout emotional experiences
actually improve their mentaland physical health because when
(02:17):
you write, you stop suppressing,your brain starts connecting
dots.
It's like cleaning a clutteredcloset, pulling out memories,
deciding what to keep, what tolearn from, and what to release.
That's why it aligns so wellwith my iCope2Hope 3-Step
Resilience Framework.
(02:37):
Let's look at how expressivewriting supports each step.
Step one, develop a growthmindset.
When life changes, suddenly ourfirst instinct is to resist.
We want our old life back.
We want certainty.
Writing helps you face realitywith honesty, not to agree with
(02:57):
what happened, but to tell thetruth about it.
you might start with, since thediagnosis, I feel, and finish
the sentence.
The hardest part about thisseason is, and finish the
sentence, research shows namingemotions, helps calm the brain.
(03:19):
That's what I call radicalacceptance.
The first step towardsresilience.
Before you can move forward, youhave to face what is.
When you write, you give yourheart room to exhale.
Step two, discover yoursuperpowers.
Once you write through the pain,something new appears.
(03:40):
Signs of strength.
Moments when you kept going,times you showed courage, humor,
or faith you didn't know youhad.
as Dr.
Penebaker found people'slanguage shifts from emotional
words, like sad and angry toreasoning words like, understand
and realize.
(04:01):
That's your brain healing.
Moving from chaos to clarity.
Try this prompt.
When I look back, I see Isurvive because I, and finished
the sentence.
The strength that helped me dothat was, and finish the
sentence.
(04:22):
every strength you name becomesa superpower you can use.
Again, writing helps you see theresilience that was already
there.
Step three, think outside thebox.
As you keep writing, you'llnotice your focus shifting from
what happened to what's next.
Your words start carryinginsight and curiosity.
(04:45):
If this challenge is preparingme for something new, what might
that be?
What could this experience makepossible?
That's when resilience turnsinto growth for Maryanne
writing, led her to mentorothers.
Recovering from surgery, whatfelt like loss became purpose.
(05:05):
And that's the goal, not goingback to who you were, but
becoming someone stronger andmore whole.
When life gets hard, most of usfall into three traps.
The first one is avoidingemotion by staying busy or
pretending we're fine.
The second one is endlessventing, talking without
(05:27):
reflection, reliving paininstead of releasing it.
And the third is toxicpositivity.
Skipping straight to it's finebefore facing the truth.
Expressive writing offers ahealthy middle ground, private,
honest, unstructured.
It lets you feel without fallingapart and think without
(05:50):
overthinking.
I want to share the four dayexpressive writing challenge
with you.
You don't need to be a writer,you just need to be honest.
Here's a simple way to begin onthe first day, write what
happened, focus on emotion, notperfection.
On day two, write again.
(06:12):
Explore what you feel underneathon day three, look for meaning.
What have you learned?
Where did strength show up?
And on day four, shift forward,what would healing look like?
What's one small step towardpeace after four days?
(06:34):
Reread your words.
Notice what's changed.
Are your thoughts calmer?
More hopeful.
That's your mind reorganizingyour story.
That's resilience at work.
Once you've written, apply theiCOPE 5-Step Problem Solving
Method, step one.
(06:54):
Identify what's in your control.
Step two, control your response,not the circumstance.
Step three, decide the mostlikely outcome you want that's
in between the best and theworst outcomes.
Step four, make an action planwith small achievable steps for
(07:17):
this week and step five.
Evaluate what worked and whatstill needs attention.
Writing clears emotional space,so these steps feel doable.
It's the groundwork that makesaction possible.
Maryanne discovered that writinggave back her voice.
(07:39):
It didn't erase her scars, butit reminded her she still had
power.
That's the quiet miracle ofexpressive writing.
You don't need to be brave allat once.
You just need to be honest longenough to hear what strength
sounds like.
Resilience isn't about denyingpain.
It's about facing it and stillbelieving in your future.
(08:02):
Every time you write your story,you take back authorship of your
life.
You can't control every storm,but you can choose what to build
after it.
Writing helps you design thatblueprint one sentence at a
time.
So start with only 10 minutestoday.
Find a quiet corner, open yournotebook and let your truth
(08:25):
speak.
You might be surprised by whathope sounds like in your own
handwriting.
Let's do a quick recap.
Writing helps you processemotion instead of suppressing
it.
It strengthens every step of theiCOPE Framework: acceptance,
confidence, and creativity.
(08:48):
The four day challenge is asimple way to begin 10 minutes a
day.
Pair your reflections withsmall, intentional action.
You don't need to have it allfigured out.
You just need to start.
If you want help calming yourthoughts during hard moments,
download my free guide.
(09:10):
Reframe the spiral, five quickcoping strategies to shift
negative thoughts and reclaimyour day.
You'll find the link in the shownotes.
That's it for today's episode ofFlourishing After Adversity.
If this message encourage you,please subscribe and leave a
review.
It helps others find the showand hope they need.
(09:32):
Better yet, please share thisepisode with three people in
need of hope.
Until next time, remember,adversity can make you bitter or
better.
Choose better.
You've got this.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.