THE digital age has “revved us up” and pushed our nervous system into overdrive, says Melville psychologist Georgina Mavor.

To stem the constant flood of social media, texts and emails, Mavor is running a Women’s Journal Writing Program in South Fremantle.

• Psychologist Georgina Mavor (below) runs journal writing programs.

“We are bombarded with stimuli every day,” she says.

“…It is really important to take time to stop and listen, to slow down, notice and hear – instead of the constant knee jerk responses the digital age has cultivated.

“Writing, particularly hand writing, slows the mind down, expelling thoughts and creating space for something fresh. The mind relaxes and solutions surface. You don’t get the latter from a G&T!”

Aside from the calming benefits of jotting down your thoughts, Mavor says the group journal sessions are a platform for women to “process, hear and validate their deeper thoughts and experiences”.

“In any society, women and men are raised in expectations and beliefs about what makes us a ‘good’ woman or a ‘good’ man,” she says.

“That socialisation is often unconscious and only comes to awareness when it creates problems in our lives.

“In writing and sharing our own truths about various topics, the participants will also come to understand that they are not alone in what they think or what they have experienced. This can have a big impact. I find that journal writing participants leave each session feeling calmer and more at peace with what they know/who they are.”

A psychologist at Melville Family Health Centre and a member of the Society of Women Writers WA, Mavor runs a monthly small journal writing circle for women and participates in monthly international journal writing circles.

She’s also held journal writing groups in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital through Solariscare, which provides free complementary therapies for cancer patients and their families.

“In the journalling group, most of the participants commented that it provided them with space (time out) from the regime of cancer treatment to collect their thoughts and share them with people with whom they had no emotional attachment,” Mavor says. “Which made a difference – families couldn’t provide the unconditional space to hear a cancer patient’s deepest thoughts.” 

The Women’s Journal Writing Program starts on Saturday October 14 at The Meeting Place in South Fremantle. To book go to eventbrite.com.au.