What is Written Exposure Therapy?
A brief, structured, evidence-based treatment for post-traumatic stress — five sessions, built around writing.
Written Exposure Therapy is one of the most efficient PTSD treatments available: five sessions, each built around a structured period of writing about the traumatic experience, with specific guidance for each session.
Avoidance is what keeps trauma powerful. Writing approaches the memory in a contained, repeatable way — and because the format is brief and predictable, many people who would not choose a longer trauma therapy can complete WET.
The research is striking: clinical trials have found WET comparable to much longer gold-standard trauma treatments for many people, with notably lower dropout. It is a serious option if you want trauma treatment that is contained and time-limited.
How it works
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Understand the frame
The first session explains how trauma and avoidance work, and exactly what the writing will involve.
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Write, with structure
Each session centres on a guided writing period — approached safely, with a clear protocol behind it.
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Let the memory settle
Approached repeatedly instead of avoided, the memory begins to lose its grip on the present.
Written exposure therapy can help with
- Post-traumatic stress
- Single-incident trauma
- Trauma symptoms alongside other treatment
- People who want a brief, structured option
I offer WET when someone wants genuine trauma treatment in a contained format — it pairs a light footprint with evidence that has earned it a place beside much longer therapies.