Write in the Head is an Arts Council England funded project that explores the potential of creative writing to aid in rehabilitation from strokes and other acquired brain injuries (ABIs).
The impact of a stroke or head injury can be huge. As well as coping with a range of physical and cognitive impairments, survivors may have to work through the trauma of their experience and learn to navigate new kinds of relationships with friends and family. Though support is available, help offered through the NHS often focusses more on rebuilding functional skills than it does on helping survivors to deal with the emotional impacts of a life-changing event.
A growing body of evidence shows that art-based therapies can help stroke and ABI survivors take a more active role in their own physical and emotional rehabilitation. Music and drama activities have often been used for therapeutic purposes. However, less work has been done to explore the potential of creative writing as a rehabilitative tool, despite the fact that many stroke and ABI survivors experience problems with language. Our programme will explore how a tailored set of creative writing exercises might work alongside existing speech and language therapy programmes to help stroke survivors rebuild communicative skills and share their experiences is new and expressive ways.
Duting our project, we will explore how telling stories about stroke and ABI experiences can help during recovery. As one of our team members, the novelist Jon McGregor, writes in his novel Lean Fall Stand (2021): ‘Aphasia affects all aspects of a person’s communication but the ability to tell stories can be a significant loss.’
You can contact the project at writeinthehead@gmail.com
Write in the Head offers creative writing opportunities for survivors of strokes and Acquired Brain Injuries. While our content is designed in collaboration with medical practictioners, we are not a substitute for medical advice, and our programme of exercises is not a substitute for medical care.
If you are concerned about yourslef or a relative, there are organisations who can offer help.
Write in the Head 