Institute of Medical Humanism® founder Celia Engel Bandman, a writer herself, created WRITING IS GOOD MEDICINE.™ The program focuses on the person’s explorations into the lived world of illness. It is the genre of the patient’s voice. The method builds on the literature of stream of consciousness but differs in that the patient is provided with the opening line as a logical place to begin. The opening line is shaped by the patient’s experience as told to Ms. Bandman in her role as medical humanist and with her knowledge of how the arts and humanities can promote healing. Research studies have showed that writing about one’s deepest thoughts and emotions can improve health outcomes.

WRITING IS GOOD MEDICINE™ has been formatted into a deck of cards. It is not a journal. Why a deck of cards? The concept came out of the medical humanist’s encounter with a patient, who said, “You play the hand you’ve been dealt.” Writing is one way to contain the experience and to put it outside of oneself.

One side of the card exhibits original abstract art created by CCM founders Celia Bandman and the late Patricia Barr. Why abstract art? The abstract artist makes a conscious choice to explore the inner world of his or her experience. There are no given directions to this exploration. The artist creates new forms, shapes, and nuances that focus on his or her own feelings in response to the world within and around them.  Every image is underscored by the words of poets, philosophers, artists, theologians and historians—all of who record the search for meaning in the human condition. On the other side of the card is the writing exercise.

Each exercise is 10 minutes. There are three rules: forget grammar and punctuation; do not erase or cross out; write the first thought that comes to mind and just follow that thought. The mind can be at times aimless, drifting and lurching from past to present, fantasy to reality, and from place to place. It is not a neat narrative. It is, however, a language not found in traditional textbooks of medicine but in the self-examined
experience of the patient. It is the patient’s voice.

WHAT PATIENTS SAY

Do you want to participate in the writing program?

My initial thought was—no, I don’t write. My spelling and punctuation isn’t the greatest, my sentence structures aren’t the best. Then I was told it didn’t matter, it wasn’t that kind of writing.   I found that the writing program is personal, I can say through writing things that I wouldn’t normally say out loud…sometimes there is more anger than I realized…sometimes more acceptance…sometimes I share my writing and sometimes I choose not to. We cry, we laugh, and we nod our heads. I have found myself writing when I need to get something said…when no one is listening…or maybe they are just hearing and not listening. The whole experience has been positive and enlightening. I will continue to let my thoughts wander and capture what I feel.”
J.W.