Therapy is so often based around conversation and storytelling that it’s been called “the talking cure.” But recently, mental health professionals have been finding healing power in asking their clients to write down their stories. Can keeping a journal, writing a memoir, or otherwise engaging in “expressive writing” help heal the wounds in our minds? In this conversation with Stephen Southern we talk about trauma, complex PTSD, and whether expressive writing” might offer effective treatment that not only heals past wounds but protects against future ones.

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Visit Antioch’s website to learn more about the programs Stephen teaches in: the low-residency MA in Clinical Psychology, the full-residency MA in Clinical Psychology on our Los Angeles campus, and the MA in Clinical Psychology based on our Santa Barbara campus. You can also explore the PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision based out of our Seattle Campus.

You can find Stephen’s latest paper, “Trauma Autoethnography as a Therapy Process” in the Journal of Loss and Trauma.

This episode mentions somatic therapy, a concept expanded on in a previous episode of the Seed Field Podcast: “Using Somatic Therapy to Understand the Trauma in Our Bodies” with Rachele Moskowitz.

This episode was recorded March 26, 2025 via Squadcast and released April 2, 2025.

The Seed Field Podcast is produced by Antioch University

Host: Jasper Nighthawk

Editor: Nastasia Green

Web Content Coordinator: Jen Mont

Work-Study Assistants: Stefanie Paredes, Lauren Arienzale, Dani LaPointe, and Liza Wisner.

Additional Production Help: Karen Hamilton, Melinda Garland, and Laurien Alexandre.

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To access a full transcript and find more information about this and other episodes, visit theseedfield.org. To get updates and be notified about future episodes, follow Antioch University on Facebook.