How to Write Trauma Without Retraumatizing Yourself

Writing about trauma can help organize thoughts, regulate emotions, encourage us to reach out for support, and enable us to discover meaning. But revisiting trauma on the page can be triggering. We will talk about how to write about traumatic experiences without retraumatizing ourselves or overwhelming our readers and what keeps writers grounded and writing.

Ellen Blum Barish is the author of the spiritual memoir Seven Springs (Shanti Arts, 2021), the essay collection Views from the Home Office Window (Adams Street Publishing, 2007), and a contributor to Chicago Storytellers From Stage to Page (Chicago Story Press, 2020). You can find her personal essays in Tablet, Lilith, Brevity’s Blog, Full Grown People, Literary Mama, and The Chicago Tribune and hear them on Chicago Public Radio. She founded the literary publication Thread, which earned four notables in Best American Essays. Ellen has taught writing at Northwestern University, Chicago-area synagogues, and writer’s studios, including Story Studio Chicago and Lighthouse Lit Fest. She works privately with writers on essay collections and memoir.

This session will be recorded and sent to participants. We encourage live attendance for you to get the most out of the experience.

We are happy to offer this session for free. A suggested $18 donation has been added to the ticket. If you are unable to donate, you may remove that suggested amount from the ticket. Please consider donating if you’re able, to help us continue to offer free programs like this one.