Running head: ARTICLE CRITIQUE 2

Article Critique 2: Creative Writing as Treatment for Substance Abuse

Lauren Leany
Brigham Young University

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Article Critique 2: Creative Writing as Treatment for Substance Abuse

A common form of recreational treatment is the use of comprehensive art therapy. These
activities may include painting, singing, poetry, etc. The arts provide a way for people to
communicate and overcome complex feelings, fears and struggles when conventional therapy is
not enough. Although there has not been much research on the subject, creative writing, a form
of art therapy, has been shown to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance
abuse. Results have shown that patients experience improvements in depression, anxiety, trauma
symptoms, and physical health because of their creative writing experiences.
Summary
The article The Use of Creative Writing Interventions in Substance Abuse Treatment
analyzes the place that creative writing holds in recreation therapy. Creative writing was used as
a treatment with adolescents and adults. The writing served as a coping method for the patients to
better handle addictions to various substances. Mentioned in the article is the fact that patients
expressed that writing and music are the two best interventions used to improve coping abilities.
The writing treatments were done in a variety of settings including inpatient and outpatient
facilities as well as school settings. The article stresses the point that there are many benefits to
using creative writing as a treatment. These benefits include improving the patient-therapist
relationship; the flexibility of addressing multiple topics in the writing; and many specific patient
improvements such as decreased drinking intentions, increased self-esteem, higher levels of trust,
and better social skills. The article concludes by stressing that therapists need to adjust the
writing sessions for each group they are working with.
Strengths
This article effectively portrayed the subject matter expressed in the title. One of its
greatest strengths is that it clearly shows how beneficial creative writing can be as a therapy
method. It does this by conveying the many ways writing can be implemented in therapeutic

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endeavors. Outlined in the article are the effectiveness that results from pairing writing with
music and the many health benefits that can come from writing. The flexibility of writing as a
therapy method is also detailed. The authors effectively showed how writing can be used to help
people with different struggles and different age groups as well as how the subjects and lengths
of writing sessions can easily be changed.
Another strength of the article was the writing style used. The authors portrayed their
message succinctly without wasting time with unnecessary details or examples. Applicable
previous articles were referenced in a way that confirmed the message of the article without
distracting from the new conclusions being drawn. The article also flowed well. It followed a
natural progression that helped the reader understand the message being shared.
Weaknesses
Although the article did an excellent job of detailing the benefits and flexibility of
creative writing as a method of therapy, it also had some serious shortcomings. The major flaw in
the article was that it failed to explain what was meant by creative writing. Although this is a
commonly used term in academic settings, the authors should have explained the writing
methods used in the treatment sessions. This could have included topics used, possible lengths of
writing sessions, or what guidance or instruction that was given to the patients regarding how or
what they were supposed to write. It also should have detailed whether patients wrote in an
assigned period of time or if they were expected to write on their own time.
In addition to this weakness, the paper could have been improved by explaining why
writing is an effective treatment. This would help therapists better understand why they should
implement writing into their therapy sessions. The article concluded without providing any
explanation about how writing can be applied to real-life struggles. Including this information
could help therapists better assist their patients.
Application

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This article would be a great resource for recreation therapists who are looking for new
methods of treatment that they could implement into their work with their patients. If a therapist
is struggling to find a way to help certain patients who have been unresponsive to other methods
of therapy, this would be an easy new method to use. It would take minimal effort to try and
could be a different approach for patients.
The authors of the article readily express that this is an area that has had limited research.
This article would be good for exposing more people to the idea of using creative writing and
possibly sparking interest in the field so as to encourage an increase in research efforts. Because
of the articles extensive citations and data, sponsors would find the content reliable and
trustworthy.
Personal Reaction
I chose to read this article because I was interested by the idea that writing could be used
to help people overcome patterns of abuse. Because I am not one who writes for fun or in my
own free time, I had never considered the therapeutic benefits of writing. It is intriguing to me
that such a seemingly simple technique can have such widespread benefits. I would be interested
to experience firsthand the benefits of this technique and to see the changes that can come about
as a result of it.
References
Snead, B., Pakstis, D., Evans, B., & Nelson, R. (2015). The use of creative writing interventions
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in substance abuse treatment. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 49(2), 179-182. Retrieved

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