This episode explores writing in English, or any language, as a means of therapy. By this I mean writing freely to express emotions and feelings, some of which can be difficult to recall or remember. I speak to Princess R Lakshman from Sydney, Australia about her work supporting women, children and men to recover from trauma, often caused by dislocation - having to leave one's home country because of war or natural disaster - or through individual traumas experienced in families, schools or workplaces because of abusive relationships or bullying.

This podcast therefore comes with a trigger warning, that some of the content may be disturbing to some people. We do not go into details of individual traumatic events, but even talking around the subject may be upsetting to some people.

Princess describes the work she has done to support people who are suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder); including her own personal experiences with the condition. She talks about how writing can be used to empower people to reveal their inner most feelings - to connect with their own souls, in her words - to enable people to understand and move on from very difficult experiences in their lives.

We also touch upon the danger that the imposition of the English Language on individuals or whole communities is problematic and can be seen as a form of cultural imperialism; a topic I will be returning to in greater detail in a future podcast.

This podcast may be of benefit to intermediate and advanced English Language students who want to examine complex topics and to English Language Teachers working in both English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language contexts.

Any comments on the podcast should be addressed to [email protected] or via my LinkedIn page at: www.linkedin.com/in/john-scott-lawton 

Princess R Lakshman's 'MInd Body Healing Hub' Blog Page and further contact details can be found at: 

https://muslimahmindmatters.wordpress.com/