Reflective Writing is a practice in which the writer describes a real or imaginal scene, event, interaction, passing thought, memory, form, adding a personal reflection on the meaning of the item or incident, thought, feeling, emotion, or situation in his or her life. Many reflective writers keep in mind guiding questions, such as "What did I notice?" "How has this changed me?" or "What might I have done differently?"

Thus, the focus is on writing that is not merely descriptive. The writer doesn’t just hit the replay button; rather, he or she revisits the scene to note details and emotions, reflect on meaning, examine what went well or revealed a need for additional learning, and relate what transpired to the rest of life.

Uses

While anyone can use reflective writing for personal development

Personal development

Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...

, the practice is often incorporated into professionalism training for physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

s, nurses, teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

s, social workers, and others needing to offer more humane and compassionate service to their patients or clients. The underlying assumption is that through the experience of telling and listening to stories, the student becomes more attuned to noticing, listening to, recording, and responding to the stories of patients and colleagues in years to come.

Through the longitudinal practice of reflective writing comes recognition that people's perspectives grow and change. A vector develops: the stories are going somewhere, or they are stuck. Viewed this way, even bad days are not so awful; the writer becomes curious about what comes next. The mindful, reflective stance that develops in clinical training can subsequently be helpful and healing when modeled for patients or clients.

Reflective writing asks the practitioner not only to pull back the lens and observe events, human interactions, and perspectives in the field of study, but also to become more conscious of his/her emotional responses to situations encountered in training and practice, to find metaphors for experiences, and to contextualize observations. When reflective writing is shared in classes and groups, careful listening and provision of responsible, sensitive feedback to fellow students and practitioners is encouraged.

See also

• Autobiography
  Autobiography
  An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
  
  
• Creative writing
  Creative writing
  Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
  
  
• Notetaking
  Notetaking
  Notetaking is the practice of recording information captured from a transient source, such as an oral discussion at a meeting, or a lecture. Notes of a meeting are usually called minutes. The format of the initial record may often be informal and/or unstructured. One common format for such notes is...
  
  
• Outline
  Outline
  An outline is a list of the main features of a given topic, often used as a rough draft or summary of the content of a document. A hierarchical outline is a list arranged to show hierarchical relationships, and is a type of tree structure....
  
  
• Persuasive writing
  Persuasive writing
  Persuasive writing, could be referred to as a creative writing or an argument, in which the speaker uses words to convince the reader of a writer’s view regarding an issue. Persuasive writing involves convincing the reader to perform an action, or it may simply consist of an argument convincing the...
  
  
• Reflective practice
  Reflective practice
  Reflective practice is "the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning", which, according to the originator of the term, is "one of the defining characteristics of professional practice"....
  
  
• Writing therapy
  Writing therapy
  Writing therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses the act of writing and processing the written word as therapy. Writing therapy posits that writing one's feelings gradually eases pain and strengthens the immune system...