The passion of science, the precision of poetry: therapeutic writing—a review of the literature

Ethical boundaries are also less than clear: ‘There are considerable risks associated with applying psychodynamic theory to the written and spoken words of people one is working with without the safe-guards which would normally be built into the therapeutic relationship’ (Hunt 2000:191). In autobiographical writing, which exemplifies both ‘process’ and ‘product’, who is best placed to understand the meaning of the writing? Hunt’s interpretations are fraught with such risks.