We spoke to one of our creative facilitators, Dr Roshni Beeharry, about her experience supporting patients and staff at our hospitals through writing. Roshni is a former NHS doctor, medical educator, published poet, short fiction and article writer and Writing for Wellbeing & Personal Development Facilitator. We spoke to her about how her personal journey helped her rediscover her love of writing, and how writing can be used as a tool to support our wellbeing.

Why did you start running creative writing sessions?

I always wrote short stories as a child, but I stopped when I went to school. I went down the science track and into medical school, and I left it behind with the busyness of studying.

I was a Rehabilitation Medicine doctor working with people with brain injury, stroke, and complex neurological disability for 18 years, then moved into medical education.

I came back to writing through illness. My brother died in 1996, and I went through a period of delayed bereavement and depression. It was during this that an occupational therapist I was working with introduced me to poetry therapy, working with poems and reading poems. I wrote my first poem soon after.

It was instrumental to my healing, and I wanted to bring that to my patients when I went back to work as a doctor. So I trained in the theory behind using writing therapeutically, on the Master's in Creative Writing and Personal Development at the University of Sussex.

I set up Storied Selves in October 2020, working with different groups, including community groups and NHS staff. I've designed and facilitated workshops as an arts practitioner for Imperial Health Charity, which I love doing.  I’m an Imperial College alumnus and trained at St Mary’s Hospital, so it’s lovely to work with Imperial Health Charity. I’m also supporting people with acquired brain injury, which was my speciality when I was a practising doctor- it feels as if my life has come full circle – in a good way!

Why do you think writing is good for people's wellbeing and mental health?

Research is being done but it is not well understood, but I think writing helps with our wellbeing in several ways: it allows us space and time to express ourselves, and especially when doing this by pen and paper which I encourage if people are used to writing on laptops and screens, as many of us do, handwriting can ‘slow us’ down a little enough to reflect.

Also, writing brings people together as a community, both in locality and as a community of practice, of writers, which is really important when you’re feeling isolated and/or unwell. Joining creative arts groups, including writing groups, has been shown to reduce social isolation and keep you connected to other people.

Writing can of course be cathartic – getting worries or things that trouble us off our mind and onto the page, but it is more than that; writing for wellbeing in particular, can be transformative, because it’s about the process of writing, about how it feels to write, not about having everything spelt correctly, or of publishable standard. The process of writing, what emerges and how we reflect on this, can have powerful therapeutic effects.

And of course, writing something, creating a simple poem or story, can give us a huge sense of achievement. I’ve had the joy of witnessing this in groups I do, including in the Gallery Club and NHS staff groups. People say, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do this’, and then they’re scribbling away, which is great! Seeing people rediscover their creativity and get into the creative flow and get absorbed is a really joyful and fulfilling part of being a writing for wellbeing facilitator.

Why is creativity so important? 

As well as having benefits for our wellbeing, creativity gives us a sense of enjoyment, achievement, helps us learn things, see things in a different way and realise and develop new skills in ourselves. Often, we've been told certain things at school, by parents, or by some influential adult when we're younger, that make us think we are not creative or “not good” at something, and this may put us off trying things out.

But we are ALL creative beings. Whatever it is for you, whether it’s music, art, writing, cooking -  sometimes we don't realise that a lot of the things we do are creative. I think it is a real gift to ourselves to make time to be creative, have a sense of enjoyment and achievement.

It is wonderful to hear a group member say, ‘Wow, I didn't realise I could write that’, or “that really surprised me.” I did a collage making class recently at my local arts centre, as I used to love doing it at primary school, and wanted to do something creative for myself. I do not consider myself ‘good at art’, but it was a joy just to do it, chat to other people in the group, and see our finished pictures gave a real sense of achievement!

What I find when I'm a member of a writing group, and also when I’m facilitating my own groups, is that a lot of themes can resonate. I like to think of it as a kind of alchemy – people are writing about similar things in different ways, through their own individual lens and creativity. This sense of commonality really builds on the sense of community.

What exercises do you offer to help people access their creativity?

I usually start off with freewriting. I give people a quote and invite them to start writing from there. The aim is to get our thoughts flowing, and to reduce us censoring ourselves, which we always do when we think someone will be reading or marking our writing.

In freewriting, there’s no pressure to share this writing with anyone else, you don’t need to worry about spelling, what it looks like, or handwriting, and you don’t read it back until the end. The only thing to do is keep your pen moving on the page, or keep typing if you are using a keyboard, until the time is up. This gives people permission to free up their brains and get into the mode of writing. It’s really interesting. People come up with thoughts that they may not have been consciously aware of, creative pieces, or pieces based on their lives. You get a real variety.

I also use poetry to inspire writing. We read a poem together, and I ask people to identify lines that resonate with them, and then write a simple poem or freewrite from those lines. I love using pieces of music or pictures to inspire writing.  Ekphrastic writing is writing inspired by art, which could be a painting, a photo, or a piece of sculpture. I love to use this method myself if I’m feeling a bit stuck for inspiration.

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Try Dr Roshni’s writing exercise:

There are various studies that suggest expressing gratitude in writing can be beneficial to our mental health and wellbeing, such as keeping a gratitude journal or writing three things down each day that you are grateful for.

You may wish to use my prompt below to get you started and try the technique of freewriting. When you are freewriting, you don’t need to worry about your writing making sense or spelling and grammar; just keep your pen moving across the page, and don’t stop to read it back until you have finished. It’s for your eyes only, though you may choose to share it with someone you trust. The aim is to allow yourself to express your thoughts without self-censoring them.

Set a timer for six minutes and try it! 

• Freewriting prompt: "I am grateful for..." either carry on the sentence, or see what comes – images, words, sentences, a doodle or a mix. If you normally use a keyboard and screen, try writing with a pen/pencil and paper, and note how this and the writing make you feel.
• You can use some of the ideas and words that come up if you wish in the next exercise.
• Write a letter to someone or something that you are grateful for. Think about how you are going to address the letter and how you will sign off. You might wish to include a challenge or obstacle that the person/thing you are writing to has helped you overcome.