(PHOENIX, Ariz., Aug. 9, 2005) -Published writer and Phoenix College Creative Writing instructor, Laraine Herring has a unique technique for dealing with grief. She writes about it and encourages other women to do the same!

From The Wounded Writer to Write Road to Freedom, Herring has developed numerous workshops and programs which use writing as a tool for healing. With an MFA in Creative Writing and a MA in Counseling Psychology, she has created the perfect foundation for such work.

Most recently, she has compiled her advice and life story into a book entitled Lost Fathers: How Women Can Heal from Adolescent Father Loss. After years of dealing with the loss of her father and her own grief, she discovered her true talent and gift for helping other women face loss.

"All my life I've kept journals," she said. "It was obvious to me how much writing helped me in my own life. I began reading about scientific studies such as Pennebaker who began quantitatively documenting the health benefits of journaling. Since my first passion is creative writing, I knew that stories and poems often spring from a writer's desire (conscious or unconscious) to bring forth what is painful to them and rework it and/or revise it until it makes sense."

Herring's book, Lost Fathers is a healing, authoritative guide to understanding how behaviors, relationships and sense of self in adulthood are shaped by the experience of losing one's father during adolescence. The book tackles commitment, trust, intimacy, self-confidence and independence: the critical areas of personal development in the passage from adolescence to adulthood. With gentle expertise, Herring blends poignant personal stories, the latest information in developmental psychology, and guided writing exercises in this much-needed, therapeutic guide.

Herring has a true gift for turning a sour lemon into exotic-tasting lemonade. If she is presented with a difficult situation, she exams the many positive ways to see the beauty in it.

"Writing is making order from chaos," she added. "Grief and tragedy are chaotic things. Wring helps provide a framework for the writer to make connections and see different sides of things. It's not a cure - it's a process. I began noticing my creative writing classes all contained some component of writing to heal. The students kept submitting work that was deeply personal, raw, and wounded. I saw how writing a novel or short story helped them. So now it's next to impossible for me not to include some component of this in whatever type of class I'm teaching."

Herring is teaching four Creative Writing classes this Fall at Phoenix College. They include: Readings for Writers, Topics in Writing Fiction (Advanced Fiction Intensive) and Writing the Novel. She also oversees the Creative Writing Program at Yavapai College.

"I believe that we can use story to rewrite, revise and understand ourselves and those around us," said Herring. "Our stories make us who we are, and the stories we choose to believe shape the direction of our lives. This is the power of language."

For more information about Laraine Herring, to view upcoming workshops and additional classes, please visit her web site at www.laraineherring.com.

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