Podcast Summary: The Slowdown — [encore] 1368: "Do You Consider Writing to be Therapeutic?" by Andrew Grace

Host: Maggie Smith
Air Date: December 10, 2025
Produced by: American Public Media, in partnership with the Poetry Foundation

Episode Overview

In this encore episode, Maggie Smith reflects on the common question of whether writing—specifically poetry—serves as a therapeutic practice. Using her own experiences and a poignant poem by Andrew Grace, Maggie explores the difference between therapeutic writing and the practice of art, ultimately inviting listeners to rethink the role of poetry in processing grief and experience.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Question: "Is Writing Therapeutic?"

• Prevalence of the Question: Maggie notes that people often ask whether writing has helped her heal from difficult experiences.
  • Quote: "People ask me sometimes if writing is like therapy for me. They want to know if writing about the most difficult times of my life was therapeutic." (01:32)
• Underlying Motivation: She recognizes that this question often arises because people themselves are seeking coping strategies during hard times.
  • Quote: "No wonder we want to know what coping strategies work for other people by asking if writing is therapy. For me, I think what people are really asking is will this help me?" (02:01)
• Honest Answer: Maggie candidly shares her perspective:

  • Therapy is distinct from writing.

  • Activities like meditation, walks, and music help her calm her mind, but writing does not.

    Quote: "No, I don't think of writing as therapy. For me, therapy is therapy." (02:41)

The Function of Writing

• Writing as Deep Engagement, Not Soothing
  • Maggie explains that writing stimulates her mind, rather than soothing it.
  • The act of articulating experiences brings her closer to them, sometimes reopening wounds instead of healing them.
    • Quote: "Writing doesn't calm my mind. It does the opposite. It wakes me up." (03:05)
    • Quote: "Sometimes that feels like the opposite of healing. It's an opening or a reopening. Writing opens me up to the stuff of life." (03:34)
• Intentions and Audience
  • Unlike journaling, Maggie writes with the intent to be read by others, further distancing her practice from therapeutic self-reflection.
    • Quote: "I don't have a writing practice for my eyes only. When I write, my intention is to make something I'll eventually share with others." (04:04)

Introducing the Poem

• Maggie suggests that Andrew Grace’s poem, "Do You Consider Writing to be Therapeutic?", encapsulates her feelings about art and therapy.

    - *Quote*: "The next time I'm asked if writing is therapy, I may just respond by reading today's poem." (04:29)
  

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

(with timestamps)

• On writing as a mode of living:
  • "Writing opens me up to the stuff of life. It's a way of being as fully alive and aware as possible. I think that's why I do it." — Maggie Smith (03:40)
• On intention in writing:
  • "When I write, my goal isn't to heal from an experience, it's to articulate it to myself first and then to others." — Maggie Smith (03:17)

Poem Feature:

"Do You Consider Writing to be Therapeutic?" by Andrew Grace

Read at 04:42 by Maggie Smith

Key Themes (from the poem):

• The speaker's struggle with grief after his father's death.
• Attempting to use poetry and alcohol as coping mechanisms, yet feeling unresolved.
• The persistent, daily return of grief.
• The notion that poetry is "just art"—inadequate as a substitute for real human connection or therapy.

Memorable Lines from the Poem:

• "After my father died, I should have gone to therapy. I tried instead to solve my grief with alcohol and poems." (04:50)
• "Poetry is not talking. This is just art and therefore could never cover my ears when I suddenly am back in the shed and I learn again that my father has died every day since he died." (05:32)

Reflection & Conclusion

• Maggie’s reflection, paired with the poem, highlights the limits and purposes of writing and poetry. Both serve to clarify and articulate feelings rather than to heal them, offering presence and awareness over closure.
• The episode encourages listeners to consider the distinction between therapeutic practices and the creative work of making art.

Key Timestamps

• 01:32 — Maggie Smith addresses the question: Is writing therapeutic?
• 03:05 — Defining writing’s true effect: Engagement rather than healing.
• 04:04 — Difference between personal journaling and writing for others.
• 04:42 — Recitation of Andrew Grace’s poem, "Do You Consider Writing to be Therapeutic?"

Tone & Language

The episode is contemplative, candid, and compassionate, matching both Maggie Smith’s reputation as a thoughtful poetry advocate and the vulnerable subject matter of Andrew Grace’s poem.

Useful For:
Anyone interested in writing, coping with grief, or curious about the interplay between art and therapeutic practice will find this episode both grounding and enlightening, especially through its honest reconsideration of poetry’s purpose.