with Anais Salibian
Thursdays, 6 – 8 PM, April 2 – May 7
Location: Writers & Books, 740 University Ave, Rochester NY
Price: Members $320 | General Public $360. In person.
One need-based scholarship available.
Minimum Enrollment: 7
Maximum Enrollment: 15
Writing has the unique power to help humans heal; decades of research has demonstrated its measurable and astonishing biological benefits. This class will merge the science of neuroplasticity, somatic awareness, and literary craft to help students counteract the physiological damage caused by trauma. By focusing on autobiographical and reflective prompts, students will gain perspective and insight into the narratives that give their lives meaning. Writer, researcher, and long-time teacher Anais Saliban will guide students through exercises exploring the growth of the brain, emotional self-regulation, and transforming chaos or immobility into empowered living. Discover how the nervous system can be reintegrated when you use concrete language, construct a story, experiment with point of view, and apply essential craft skills in this six-week, in-person course.
Anais Salibian, who publishes personal essays and professional articles, spent decades teaching creative non-fiction writing at Writers & Books, local school districts and colleges, Oasis Lifelong Learning Center, and at the Monroe County Public Library. At the same time, she maintained a private practice in therapeutic bodywork. Because most of her clients were trauma survivors, she studied the neurobiology of trauma. When she discovered the research on writing to heal, she realized that the elements of writing that helped were the very skills she was teaching in her classes. Her two careers merged when she saw how using the right language the right way restores severed neural connections. She has offered her Writing to Heal classes and workshops both privately and at the above venues, as well as at organizations such as women’s shelters, a rape crisis center, and with the U.S. Pain Foundation. In 2004, she was awarded the Writers & Books Teacher of Adults Award.
Reserve your place below.