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Write to Heal workshop addresses self-harm

2 min read
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For 10 years, Baldwin Borough resident Amanda Filippelli worked in the mental health field, teaching coping skills to adolescent survivors of trauma.

She has transitioned into a successful career as a writer, editor and book coach, through which she continues to offer help.

Jordan Corcoran

Filippelli and Jordan Corcoran of Listen, Lucy, an online outlet where people can express themselves freely and creatively, have been hosting Write to Heal Workshops over the past year, using their own stories and tangible writing exercises to show participants how to work through their own traumas, setbacks and other issues so they can reach their personal and career goals.

The next workshop, with the theme “Writing Out Self-Harm,” is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. at Glitter Box Theater, 460 Mellwood Ave., Oakland.

“We chose this topic because there’s such a stigma and taboo surrounding it, even in the mental health community,” Filippelli said. “Jordan and I really want to take the leap ourselves and show people that it’ completely OK to talk about self-harm, that it’s more prevalent than we like to admit, that they have support, and we want to offer them writing tools to help shed some insight on this topic.”

Corcoran said it’s often difficult for people dealing with the “ideas and stigmas” around self-harm. She said dealing with self-harm is often difficult to admit.

“It feels shameful and embarrassing,” she said. “And I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by what Amanda is going to share with them. But the reality is, just like we tell all of our clients and everyone in our workshops, our stories made us who we are.”

For more information about the Write to Heal workshop, visit www.facebook.com/events/2364396247178485.

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