Karina Rodriguez | THE RIDER
UTRGV Professor Lyon Rathbun took the initiative of starting a Journal Writing Group in hopes of allowing students and staff to confront their emotions more freely. The group meets on the first and second Wednesday of every month from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Rathbun spoke at length about the benefits of allowing people to have a safe space in which they can talk and work out the emotions in their life.
“I’ve noticed that over the years, more and more students struggle with anxiety and depression, and it’s quite stunning. And, the literature bears that out,” he said.
The professor has been journaling for 30 years and has found his own emotional release. He discovered that a psychologist named Progaff had created a journaling method that merged mental healing with improving creative methods.
“It was designed to promote creativity and also promote self-awareness and mental and spiritual health and healing,” Rathbun said. “This is what he came to call intensive journal writing method.”
Many of his journaling skills can be attributed to his rough time growing up.
“I think the importance of pursuing my education here was instilled in me as a child because I was an orphan,” Rathbun said. “I lost both of my parents when I was young. I had to find mentors and find people who could guide me. So learning was always very important to me. Journal writing was just a natural extension of learning.”
The benefits of the Journal Writing Group are not limited to the benefits of creative or even mental healing, but the group allows for virtual socializing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a way of providing community,” he said.
Not only can students attend these sessions, but other members of the community are also allowed to attend.
“I enjoy the fact that it’s going to be a mix of people who are students from the university and also interested members in the community,” Rathbun said.
The professor has provided a powerful source of togetherness with his Journal Writing Group that does not discriminate against anyone.
Rathbun emphasizes that while participants are allowed to share at the meetings, they are not required to.
“It’s one important principle for any in journal writing to have privacy, and nobody is going to [be] expected to share what they write,” he said. “It is only an opportunity. It’s not an obligation.”
At the second session last Wednesday, Rathbun walked the members through exploring dialogue journal writing. During the session, they were allotted 15 minutes of writing time in which they wrote a dialogue between one person of their choosing and themselves. A few people shared what they wrote about, and soon after, they were all dismissed with the advice of continuing journaling in their day-to-day lives until their next session.
When attending the sessions, students should have a device to connect to the meeting via Zoom, a medium of writing and an open mind. Students can expect to leave the session feeling like they have attained a new piece of information that they can carry with them long after the session is over. The methods taught through the sessions transcend time and current situation and act as a mental release method whenever someone may need it.
