The authors who wrote this book ultimately aim to create a methodical approach to structuring written experiences. There are certain words and phrases they use to summarize what they are doing and how they are doing it. The techniques help translate experience to the audience, but it seems as if the purpose is to transform a cultural approach to sharing. For example, re-externalization is the ability for a writer to expose their traumatic story and to reflect on that event once it has been articulated. This is a primary step for the writer because it enables them to look at themselves from an outsider's point of view, and think critically and freshly at the event rather than internalizing their pain. I learned (from the reading) that healing stems from pain and confusion. The authors state that there's this point in time where the writer has conflicting personalities of their former and present self, and from this experience they realize there has been a transition from who they used to be during the traumatic event and who they are now-- this is when the healing can begin. The authors have outlined a process of writing about traumatic experiences which entail roughly four steps: Discover and Rediscover, Ephemeral Flow and Space of Talk, Permanent Space, and Considered/Reconsidered or Left Behind/Taken Up Again. I found this process to be particularly interesting because the authors don't create a restrictive method. A lot of methods of writing are restrictive and do not consider the author's personal experience, which is why I really admire the craft of Writing and Healing. Anderson and MacCurdy articulate the importance of writing for healing and describe it as "a site at which the social and discursive practices of the individual, the community, and the larger culture are interrogated and from which they may be effectively altered." There is an understanding here that writing for healing is not only for the writer, it is for their audience and (as I mentioned earlier) for improving our culture. There are many stories to be told and a lot of people hold them back. Writing can be therapeutic, actually writing is therapeutic. Anderson and MacCurdy understand this and want to improve the academia surrounding the experience of writing for healing.