Writing is at once an expedition into one´s own soul, a careful approach to one´s inner world and one´s environment; it also helps in the development of personality, allowing relevant conflicts in life to be approached and worked through. Creative and therapeutic writing is an intensive way to observe and experience things, to change one´s usual way of seeing things, to expand one´s horizon. This volume introduces techniques such as imagination and dreams for just this purpose. Everyone can write; no literary or linguistic skills are prerequisite to beginning. Rather, everyone has his or her own way of expressing things. This workbook contains a number of writ-ing exercises and tutorials for use by poetry therapists, psychotherapists and writing instructors. It also supports attempts at poetic self-analysis.

Prof. Dr. med. Silke Heimes, Ärztin, Poesietherapeutin, Autorin, Künstlerin, ist Professorin für Journalistik mit dem Schwerpunkt Wissenschaftsjournalismus an der Hochschule Darmstadt. Sie ist Gründerin und Leiterin des Instituts für Kreatives und Therapeutisches Schreiben (IKUTS).