We write so we come to know ourselves better – don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, creativity, fluency, and especially don’t worry if your writing looks unfinished – you may even come to find out that the lack of punctuation means something in your writing.

This is an invitation to look inward and to share with others in the pain community. We are all taking a risk here by choosing to write and share our stories … If by any chance you write something that you don’t you want to share, that is fine. Nobody will force you to read your story. But because the aim of our workshop is about the connection as well as the joy, we invite you to explore how sharing your writing could create meaningful and helpful connections for you. Your stories will stay personal and private to those in the workshop with you.

If 90 minutes feels too challenging for you, you are welcome to join us for just the first one or two exercises (which are shorter). We will provide explanations of the writing exercises in the recording of the session and on the website, so you can try them at home by yourself or with family and friends at any time.

Your facilitators are a group of pain therapists and people living with pain:

Sanja Maretic is an osteopath, interested in narrative healthcare and people’s lived experiences.

Clair Jacobs is a pain management physiotherapy lead at St Thomas’, interested in the way we can explore and open up our ideas through storytelling and listening.

Deb Penman is an occupational therapist at St Thomas’, loves hearing people’s stories and seeing how we can connect with each other through writing.

Jenny Zaremba lives with pain and has found creative writing a helpful way to explore and discover new sources of joy in life.