Expressive Writing Crisis Response™
Trauma-informed Expressive Writing workshops (online and in-person)
for communities navigating fear, grief, and collective crisis.
Expressive Writing Crisis Response™ offers trauma-informed, science-backed Expressive Writing workshops for individuals and communities navigating fear, grief, and collective overwhelm—delivered online and in person, and expanded through training, translation, and youth-focused programming.
What This Is
Expressive Writing Crisis Response™ is a rapid-response initiative that brings the therapeutic practice of Expressive Writing for Emotional Healing™ to communities experiencing acute stress, fear, or collective grief.
This work is grounded in decades of research and years of real-world teaching. It offers people a simple, accessible way to give language to what they are carrying—without requiring therapy, public sharing, or prior writing experience.
These workshops are designed to meet people where they are:
In moments of crisis
When fear limits mobility or gathering
When traditional grief support is unavailable or inaccessible
When people feel overwhelmed, helpless, or stuck
Writing about difficult feelings and experiences, when done intentionally and privately, helps regulate the nervous system, reduce long-term harm, and restore a sense of agency. This is not opinion. It is science.
Part of the Center for Shared Grief™
Expressive Writing Crisis Response™ is a cornerstone initiative of Center for Shared Grief™, founded in 2025 by trauma-informed memoir coach and author Christine Wolf (M.A.T., MHFA).
The Center for Shared Grief™ was born from a simple and sobering reality:
Communities in crisis often struggle to find grief support that is accessible, timely, and appropriate for a wide range of people.
After teaching Expressive Writing for Emotional Healing™ workshops for years, Christine saw two persistent gaps:
A shortage of grief-informed spaces that can respond quickly to collective trauma
A lack of evidence-based tools that ordinary people can use safely—without needing to become patients or performers
The Center for Shared Grief™ exists to help close those gaps.
Why Expressive Writing in Times of Crisis?
No matter what we are grieving—loss of safety, loss of trust, loss of loved ones, loss of community—we are often left with the same underlying feeling: helplessness.
Expressive Writing — a therapeutic writing technique pioneered by Dr. James Pennebaker — helps counter that helplessness by:
Giving language to painful, mixed, and overwhelming emotions
Freeing up working memory, which improves sleep and emotional regulation
Reducing avoidance, which lowers long-term mental and physical health risks
Helping individuals find meaning, even when circumstances feel senseless
This practice is:
Private (no sharing required)
Non-clinical (not therapy)
Accessible to all people aged 16+
We aim to build in translation and create youth-centered versions of our workshops to make them adaptable across all cultures, languages, and ages.
We also aim to train volunteers to teach the Expressive Writing for Crisis Response™ method so communities can sustain it themselves
What We Offer
With adequate support, Expressive Writing Crisis Response will make it possible to offer:
Free Community Workshops
We’ll offer expressive writing workshops free to participants in communities experiencing crisis—online when gathering is unsafe, and in person whenever possible. These sessions will provide immediate tools for regulation and processing, without cost being a barrier.
In-Person Programming
In-person workshops will offer deeper grounding and connection. Funding allows us to pay for safe, welcoming spaces, materials, and facilitation so communities can gather when they are ready.
Training & Capacity Building
We’ll train educators, organizers, and institutions to use Expressive Writing responsibly in their own communities—extending the reach and longevity of this work far beyond a single session.
Translation & Interpretation
Language should never be a barrier to care. Financial support will allow us to hire interpreters and translate materials so this work can reach non-English-speaking communities.
Youth & Under-16 Programming
Young people absorb collective fear and grief deeply. We are developing age-appropriate versions of this work so children and teens can access tools that help them process safely and privately.
Why Support Is Essential
These workshops will be offered freely to participants—but they are not free to provide.
Your support for Expressive Writing Crisis Response helps cover:
Facilitation and program development
Space rental
Support materials for attendees
Travel for in-person facilitation
Translation and interpretation services
Youth-specific adaptations
Training programs that encourage communities to carry this work forward
Expressive Writing is a free, high-impact intervention. Your financial support of our efforts will ensure our workshops remain accessible and sustainable.
Our Long-Term Vision
Expressive Writing Crisis Response™ is the first of many offerings from the Center for Shared Grief™.
The long-term vision of the Center for Shared Grief™ is to become a place—both physical and conceptual—where communities can access dynamic, inclusive healing modalities, including:
Expressive Writing and other therapeutic writing modalities
Art-based therapies
Music and sound-based healing
Somatic and body-based practices
Facilitated grief groups for reflection and meaning-making
A place that honors grief not as pathology, but as a shared human experience—and responds to it with compassionate, evidence-based support.
Christine Wolf is a published author, educator (M.A.), and certified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) responder. She has spent years teaching Expressive Writing for Emotional Healing™ and founded the Center for Shared Grief™ in 2025 to bring accessible, evidence-based tools to communities navigating grief, trauma, and collective overwhelm.
Disclaimer
Expressive Writing Crisis Response™ workshops are educational and skill-based and do not constitute therapy or mental health treatment.Program support is administered by Writers’ Haven LLC, and contributions to the Expressive Writing Crisis Response™ Fund are not tax-deductible.