Sunday Journal Prompt

“Please write about the things that you’re feeling and experiencing, and I know it’s going to help in the end.”

– Michael Cain, author of The Pain of PTSD and the Healing Power of Journaling, to his son prior to his nine U.S. Army deployments

Fort Bragg Warrior Transition Battalion coach Michael Cain, who had experienced the healing power of journaling for himself, gave his son a new journal before each of his nine deployments with the 82nd Airborne and Joint Special Operations Command as a way to cope with his experiences and help protect him from PTSD. His son wrote regularly and reported that it helped him immensely. Cain now works with current and past vets, especially Vietnam War veterans.

This week I was blessed with the opportunity to work with veterans at VetsHouse, a grand home on a hill where university student veterans live. Generous donors outfitted the home in luxury: granite countertops, a flat-screen TV, cozy furniture, a fancy gas stove and a handsome, sturdy dining room table. Cain advocates for people to write for thirty to forty minutes at a time, undisturbed, in a place where they feel secure. One of his clients writes while sitting on the floor behind a sofa; others write at a library or coffee shop. Writing about trauma or its symptoms—hypervigilance, barricading (not going outside), insomnia, fatigue—is scary, but a sound, safe environment like this home on a hill can help support the process. 

What’s a safe environment for you to write about trauma, its symptoms or uncertainty?