Finding Words for What’s Inside – Online Group

The information on this page is for an ACC sensitive claims approved online group.  Your counsellor or psychologist can help you access the group if you have an approved claim.

Finding Words for What’s Inside is an 8 week therapeutic writing group focused on supporting participants to develop a coherent sense of identity and life narrative following experiences of trauma, disruption, or significant life change.

Each session will follow a consistent structure to support safety and predictability, including a grounding check-in, introduction of the theme,  1–2 structured writing tasks, reflection and optional sharing.

Sharing is always optional, with emphasis on choice, safety, and participant control.

The group will follow a structured progression:

1. Exploring different aspects of self 
2. Writing about different phases of life 
3. Reflecting on key events and turning points
4. Create distance and perspective by writing to experiences
5. Exploring internal experiences and conflicting parts
6. Identifying alternative perspectives 
7. Exploring direction, hopes, and emerging identity
8. Bringing together insights and consolidating learning

Potential Benefits

Participants may:

• develop increased ability to reflect on and organise personal experiences
• strengthen their sense of identity across past, present, and future
• increase ability to make sense of life events
• enhance capacity for meaning-making following difficult experiences
• improve confidence in articulating personal experiences
• develop writing as a tool for ongoing self-reflection and integration

A little bit about sharing

This group is a writing and creativity space, not a trauma-processing group. Many of us carry trauma, and this will naturally shape how and what we write, but the focus here is on creative expression rather than sharing or processing traumatic material in the group.

Choice and pacing
You’re always welcome to write in your own way and at your own pace.

• Sharing is optional. You never owe the group your story.
• You may pass, share briefly, share an excerpt, or speak about your process rather than your content.

Mindful sharing
When sharing writing with the group, the group agrees to:

• Be mindful that this is a collective space with many nervous systems present
• Avoid graphic or detailed descriptions of violence, abuse, or traumatic events
• Share from a place that feels regulated enough to stay present in the room
• Use distance where helpful- e.g. metaphor, imagery, third person, or abstraction
• Pause or stop reading at any point, without explanation

Writing for the page vs writing for the group
Some writing is for the page only, some is for a trusted one-to-one space, and some is ready to be shared in a group. Part of our practice here is learning to sense the difference.

Confidentiality
What is shared in the group stays in the group. Please speak from your own experience and avoid sharing others’ stories outside the group.

Care and support
As facilitators we’ll support grounding and pausing if needed, but this group is not a space for trauma processing or crisis support. If something opens up that feels like it needs more support, we encourage you to take that back to your individual counselling – this group is a part of your bigger journey and it’s appropriate for there to be crossover between us and your counsellor.

Respect for self and others
As a group we agree to listen with care, avoid analysis or advice-giving, and trust that everyone is the expert on their own experience.