Using Popular Quotations to Enhance Therapeutic Writing

Wyndy L.Wiitala and Donald F. Dansereau

The authors describe the use of therapeutic writing as a technique for managing personal problems. I t was hypothesized that having individuals intermittently read inspirationallmotivational sayings would further enhance the benefit of therapeutic writing.The results indicate that popular quotations can be used with therapeutic writing to make the process more interesting and enjoyable. Recommendations are provided to counselors who may want to use this technique with clients.

ne way to cope with stressful events is to engage in a task that encour- ages emotional expression, such as expressive or therapeutic writing 0 (e.g., Pennebaker, 1989, 1997). Therapeutic writing as a means of

dealing with stressful or traumatic events has been studied extensively during the past decade. The process involves writing (without feedback) about the thoughts and feelings surrounding a stressful event. Research has suggested that writing for 15 to 30 minutes for 1 to 5 days can have positive results (Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999). Some of the benefits include increased grade point averages, fewer health center visits (Pennebaker &Francis, 1996), decreased impact of intruding thoughts about the stressfd event (Lepore, 1997), and in- creased insight into personal issues (Francis & Pennebaker, 1991). Writing about personal problems has been thought to benefit individuals by providing a release of negative emotions associated with the problem and restructuring the problem in a way that creates more insightfil and coherent thinking (Francis & Pennebaker, 1991; Pennebaker, 1997).

Despite the clear advantages of having clients engage in therapeutic writing, there are some limitations of this technique. One limitation is that of closed- system thinking. When individuals engage in therapeutic writing, there is a lack of external ideas and insights, such as the ideas and insights that would be avail- able in a counseling situation. Thus, individuals may remain “stuck” in their current patterns and have dificulties shifting perspectives or even knowing how to start to do so. A second limitation is related to the level of interest or enjoy- ment experienced when writing about problems. Many clients report that they do not feel confident in their writing abilities and/or simply d o not enjoy writing. Consequently, even though therapeutic writing has been associated with positive outcomes, this technique is likely to be underutilized by clients.

One possible means to enhance the use and enjoyment of therapeutic writing may be to have clients reflect on lists of inspirational sayings or quotations from

Wyndy L. Wiitola ond Donold F. Donsereou, Deportment of Psychology, Texos Christion University. Wyndy L. Wiitolo is now with RMC Reseorch Corporation, Portlond, Oregon. Correspondence concerning this article should be oddressed to Wyndy L. Wiitolo, RMC Reseorch Corporation, 522 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1407, Portland, OR 9 7204 (e-moil: wyndy-wiitolo@rmccorp.com).

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renowned individuals (e.g., “A journey ofa thousand miles begins with a single step”; Chinese proverb, Lao Tzu) Having clients consider inspirational quota- tions that are relevant to their personal issues may provide a jump start to the writing process and may reduce the need for the external input or shifts in perspective that counselor insights provide. Reflecting on inspirational quota- tions may also help to make the writing process more interesting and enjoyable for the client.

What Kinds of Quotations Do College Students Prefer?

Inspirational or motivational sayings are used across a wide variety of settings to set a mood, to offer a shift in perspective, or to motivate the reader through eloquent forms of advice or encouragement. Numerous books of quotations are available, and many similar lists of inspirational/motivational sayings are accessible on the Internet. To investigate the kinds of quotations that college students prefer, we com-

piled a brief list of 54 quotations from two published books (Cook, 1997; Ehrlich & De Bruhl, 1996) and asked 119 college students to rate the quota- tions according to how much they liked each one. The students’ top 25 choices are presented in Table 1. In addition, we asked the students to rate each quo- tation on how valuable it would be in positively influencing each of four dimen- sions: (a) behavior, (b) cognition, (c) affect, and ( d ) motivation. Our results indicated that ratings of these dimensions and the likability scores were all highly correlated, suggesting that students did not differentiate between their preferences and the best possible uses for the quotation. There were also no consistent themes in the types of quotations preferred over those not pre- ferred, implying that potential clients will simply prefer some quotations over others. I t may, therefore, be optimal for a counselor or for a counselor and client together to generate a list of multiple quotations relevant to the client’s personal issues.

Using Quotations to Enhance Theramutic Writing;

To explore the utility of using quotations to enhance therapeutic writing, we conducted a second study in which we randomly assigned 52 college student volunteers to one of two groups: (a) write about a personal problem without using quotations ( n = 27) or (b) write about a personal problem using a deck ofcards containing the 25 quotations listed in Table 1 ( n = 25). Students who participated in the first study (rating quotations) were not eligible to participate in the second study (writing with or without quotations). A measure of life satisfaction indicated that there were no significant differences between groups prior to the intervention. All students received a package of multicolored pens

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TABLE 1

Top 25 Quotations as Rated by Sample of 119 College Students

1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16.

17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22.

23. 24.

25.

The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions. Forgiving those who hurt us is the key to personal peace. There’s only one thing worse than the man who will argue over anything, and that‘s the man who will argue over nothing. Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it, and then move on. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of some- body else. Enthusiasm is contagious, and so is the lack of it. Memo from the Lord: Do not feel totally, personally, responsible for everything. That’s my job. If a man is willing to admit that he is a fool, then chances are, he isn’t. Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome trying to succeed. If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. When you worry, you go over the same ground endlessly and come out the same place you started. Thinking, on the other hand, makes progress from one place to another. . . .The problem of life is to change worry into thinking, and anxiety into cre- ative action. The best way out of a problem is through it. It is never too late to be what you might have been. Worry doesn’t help tomorrow’s troubles, but it does ruin today’s happiness. Those who live passionately teach us how to love. Those who love passionately teach us how to live. My friends are my family. What an interesting life I’ve had. And how I wish I had realized it sooner1 Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. Your real security is yourself. You know you can do it, and they can’t ever take that away from you. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Knowledge leads us from the simple to the complex; wisdom leads us from the com- plex to the simple. Experience is the only teacher that gives the test first and the lesson later. Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is cash in hand. Spend it! To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

Note. Original authors’ names were removed from quotations in order to control for prefer- ences that may exist toward famous authors like Albert Einstein or Ralph Waldo Emerson. Further information about the quotations, including author and source, may be obtained from the first author.

and were told that they would be given some time to write about the personal problem of their choice. They were instructed to write for the entire session and not to worry about grammar or the organization of their writing. Students then wrote for a total of 28 minutes with interruptions every 4 minutes, at which point all participants switched the color ofpen they were using, and the participants who used quotations drew a new quote card. In order to maintain experimental control in our research, we asked students to use new quotations every 4 minutes to ensure that a sufficient number of quotations were used during the writing session. Feedback from the students, however, suggests that

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such strict guidelines are not necessary. In clinical settings, individuals may enjoy the technique more if they have control over when to select a new quota- tion. Students were told that the quotations could be used to stimulate think- ing, change moods, and give new perspectives. Furthermore, they were told that if the quotation did not apply to their problem, they could discard up to two times per interruption and draw new ones.

Students filled out surveys to assess interest and enjoyment in writing (Brand, 1989) and current life satisfaction (Neugarten, Havighurst, & Tobin, 1961; Pavot & Diener, 1993). We conducted analyses of variance on the responses; our results indicated significant differences (p < .05) between the two writing groups. Students who used quotations in conjunction with therapeutic writing reported that the writing sessions were more interesting and enjoyable, lf1,45) =

5 . 2 1 , ~ < .05, and reported greater levels ofcurrent life satisfaction, 41,46) = 4.00, p < .05. Reflection on the quotations during therapeutic writing appeared to be particularly beneficial for the participants who reported little confidence in their problem-solving abilities. Specifically, those participants reported greater inter- est when they wrote with quotations, F( 1,24) = 4.10, p < .05, and had greater levels ofcurrent life satisfaction after writing with quotations, F ( 1,24) = 4.17, p < .05. This finding is noteworthy because people with low confidence in their problem-solving abilities are perhaps more likely to seek and need help from college counseling centers.

Summarv. Limitations. and Implications

Requesting that clients engage in therapeutic writing- expressing their emo- tions and processing their experiences-has previously been found to increase positive outcomes. In this article, we have shown that one way for counselors to facilitate clients’ engagement in therapeutic writing about personal problems is to simultaneously provide them with motivational/inspirational sayings or quotations from successhl individuals and have the clients reflect on the quota- tions as they write about their personal difficulties. Contemplating the quota- tions intermittently during therapeutic writing can also enhance clients’ well- being and enjoyment of the writing process. These findings are important in light of previous research that has indicated that many people report low levels of enjoyment in actively dealing with personal problems (Chmielewski, 1998; Peel & Dansereau, 1998). By increasing clients’ interest, the addition of quo- tations seems to help make the therapeutic writing process more enjoyable and, thus, more likely to be used repeatedly.

In advocating for this ancillary technique, however, it is important to note that the student research participants in our studies were not actively seeking help for their personal problems so our results may not accurately reflect the preferences or experiences of clinical populations. Furthermore, we used a list of quotations that covered a wide variety of topic areas presented to partici- pants in random order. In practice, having clients reflect on quotes could be more effective if counselors and clients work together to select specific quota-

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tions that are relevant to the clients’ issues. The quotations could possibly be used as tools for generating discussion during a counseling session as well as in conjunction with therapeutic writing outside of the counseling session.

References

Brand, A. G . (1989). The psychology of writing: The affective experience. New York: Green- wood Press.

Chmielewski, T. L. (1998). Node-link mapping as an alternative to therapeutic writing (DOC- toral dissertation, Texas Christian University, 1998). Dissertation Abstracts International, 59,4457.

Cook, J. (1997). The book of positive quotations. Minneapolis, MN: Fairview Press. Ehrlich, E., & De Bruhl, M. (1996). The international thesaurus of quotations. New York:

Harper Perennial. Francis, M. E., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1991). Putting stress into words: The impact ofwriting

on physiological, absentee, and self-reported emotional well-being measures. American Journal of Health Promotion, 6, 280-287.

Lepore, S. J. ( 1997). Expressive writing moderates the relation between intrusive thoughts and depressive symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1030-1037.

Neugarten, B. L., Havighurst, R. J., & Tobin, S. (1961). The measurement of life satisfac- tion. Journal of Gerontolom, 16, 134-143.

Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164-172.

Peel, J . L., & Dansereau, D. F. (1998). Management and prevention of personal problems in older adolescents via schematic maps and peer feedback. Adolescence, 33, 355-374.

Pennebaker, J. W. (1989). Confession, inhibition, and disease. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), A d - vances in experimental social psycholoBy (pp. 21 1-244). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological Science, 8, 162-165.

Pennebaker, J , W., & Francis, M. E. (1996). Cognitive, emotional, and language processes in disclosure. Cognition and Emotion, 10, 601-626.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 1243-1254.

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