There’s an important difference between our entire life experience and the narrower story that we create from it — the lump of clay versus the sculpture. In this lecture, Sarah Saffian — a memoirist, writing teacher, and psychotherapist — explores the concept of journal writing and its usefulness both personally, as a means of achieving deeper, clearer reflection and processing, for ourselves; and creatively, as the raw material that we draw from to craft the stories that we tell to enlighten and entertain others. Please bring materials to participate in writing prompts during this lecture. 

Sarah Saffian is a journalist, memoirist, and teacher of both, and the author of Ithaka, her chronicle of being an adoptee who was found by her birth family. As a psychotherapist, Sarah blends her areas of interest and expertise in Therapeutic Writing, using memoir prompts to encourage reflection, processing, and discovery. saffian.com.