How writing heals mental health: Screenwriter Bhavna Kher says try journaling, metaphor therapy and memory excavation

For most of us, writing is a skill tied to school essays, work reports, or the occasional social media post. But for some, writing is a practice of release and reflection. Bhavna Kher, a co-writer of Netflix’s Dabba Cartel, is one such believer. Her journey with words, she says, has shaped her emotional resilience, and she truly believes in the power of writing as a wellness ritual.

Writing and storytelling can heal your mind.

Bhavna’s relationship with writing began in the high-pressure world of advertising and later, in screenwriting. In an interview with Health Shots, Bhavna says: “All along while I was shaping narratives for brands or screen – there was always a more private practice of writing that I held close to myself. I would write vignettes, morning pages, reflections – pieces that weren’t meant for anyone else’s eyes. They were simply a way for me to feel better, to let out what I was carrying. In that sense, writing has been my ritual of release and wellness, something organic that I turned to again and again.”

That’s how she came up with the idea of sharing the virtues of writing and helping others to tap into the healing power of storytelling. “What are our lives if not great stories, right?” Bhavna asks. “The trouble begins when we suppress emotions – when we hold them in, internalise them, and let them harden into fixed patterns,” she adds.

According to her, emotional healing becomes possible when we find ways to express these stories. “By turning our lived experiences into narrative, our personal stories can be rewritten and reframed. We can actually change our narrative.”

Bhavna recently hosted a 4-day Writing Retreat in the serene environs of Gir forest. Participants were guided through practices like narrative journaling, intuitive storytelling, narrative therapy, metaphor therapy, memory excavation, letter writing – interwoven with yoga, meditation, sound healing, forest walks, and riverside experiences.

Such experiences every once in a while allow people to slow down in their rushed lives, and come back to themselves. She says: “For me, writing clears the mind. Yoga reminds me I live in a body, not just in my thoughts. Meditation deepens that sense of awareness. I’ve felt this myself on days when I start with a few stretches, sit in silence, and then put pen to paper. What comes out is very different – softer, truer.”

Bhavna Kher shares simple practices that anyone can adopt:

• Narrative Journaling: This type of journaling is really just about sitting down with your notebook and letting yourself write about your day, your emotions or whatever’s on your mind. It can be daily or whenever you feel the need.
• Metaphor Therapy: Sometimes it’s hard to write about our experiences directly. Metaphors make it easier. For example, instead of writing “I felt stuck”, you might write about a bird in a cage. Reframing our stories in this way helps us see them differently, soften them, and sometimes even discover new meanings. It’s a gentle way of working through emotions.
• Memory Excavation and Letter Writing: This is about revisiting memories – digging into the stories that shaped us. Letter writing can grow out of this – letters to ourselves, to someone from the past, or even to our future self. You don’t have to send them. The act of writing can itself bring release, closure or a sense of peace with things left unsaid.