When we confront loss, we experience myriad emotions, and in Writing to Heal the Soul (Three Rivers Press, February 2002) Susan Zimmermann shows us how we can use writing to address these emotions and transcend life’s most devastating burdens. While there is no "pat" formula or one "right way" to do this kind of writing, Susan believes that we already know, at the deepest level, how to heal ourselves. Writing allows us to access our wider minds, a wiser, more encompassing place deep within ourselves. She believes that through writing our stories, we will honor and embrace our sorrows, grow from them, and arrive at a place where life is more full and more joyful than we ever thought possible.

Susan Zimmermann created this book with the belief that you are about to set out on the most important life journey that you will ever take. There is now extensive research showing that writing is one of the most powerful and effective means to ease and ultimately heal sorrow and pain. Writing to Heal the Soul provides exercises and examples to help readers heal themselves, as only they know how. By giving voice to emotions like fear, anger, despair, writing brings our own natural self-healing powers into play.

Combining the appeal of books by Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Writing to Heal the Soul is Susan’s gift to others - everyone, not just writers - who find themselves facing grief or loss, whether through death, disability, illness, divorce, or other difficulty. It offers clear, simple exercises to focus the writing process, vivid examples from men and women on the same path, and an exploration of the strategems of journaling, grief work, and creative writing, all aimed at giving readers the courage to pick up a pen and achieve a new level of understanding and acceptance.

Reader responses to Writing to Heal the Soul:

• "Writing to Heal the Soul belongs in the library of anyone who will ever have to deal with grief. Susan Zimmerman writes with the authenticity of someone who has experienced the dark night of the soul, and the wisdom of someone who has found her way back. Her book is that rare thing, a beautifully written guidebook; both useful and lyrical, pragmatic and poetic. It offers readers a chance to lose themselves in the work of a gifted writer while finding themselves through the gift of writing itself." -- Martha Beck, author of Expecting Adam and Finding Your Own North Star
• "Susan Zimmermann’s book, Writing to Heal the Soul, is an intelligent, beautifully-written, and moving book that can be a guide for anyone who has experienced loss, failure, or tragedy. By confronting her own upheavals with frenzy, then insight, and ultimately grace, Zimmermann leads us on a journey that is deeply fulfilling and full of joy." --James W. Pennebaker, Ph.D. author of Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions
• "Zimmermann weaves together moving stories, practical writing exercises, and wisdom into a seamless guide to thriving in the face of crisis. She teaches us how to use writing as a healing balm." --Dan Shapiro, PH.D., Author of Mom’s Marijuana