Monica is the author of a four book series on creative therapeutic writing based on her own experimental and exploratory writing with exercises and notes for the reader. Editor: Dr Gillie Bolton. A Fox Crossed My Path (on mental illness/ 2017), Love & Loss (on relationships/ 2018), Rope Mates (on companionship for writers / 2019), Shifting Boundaries (on family life and friendships / 2020) are published by Cabin Press and available through her web-site.
Monica has adopted the title of practitioner in the healing arts. All her work with groups or individuals is grounded in the process of writing. She believes there is a blurring of boundaries between what is the creative and therapeutic aspects of writing. It all depends on the motivation and intentions of the writer at each stage of the writing process.
Her professional background is in humanistic psychotherapy and journalism, having trained and worked with Gerda Boyesen, the Norwegian founder of Biodynamic Psychotherapy, in the seventies. In the eighties, she worked as a journalist for BBC Radio 4 Current Affairs and Woman’s Hour during Sue MacGregor’s tenure as presenter. In 2002, she gained an MA in Creative Writing from Sussex University.
Since LockDown all Monica's work is on zoom. She offers 1-1 writing sessions and supervision for practitioners. And runs Supervision Workshops online. For further details - please see website.
She is a member of Lapidus – The Writing for Wellbeing Organisation and a member of the Interdependent Supervisors Network.
web-site: www.monicasuswin.com
2019 & 2020
Presenter: Surrey New Writers Festival. Organized by School of Literature and Languages, University of Surrey
Writing for Wellbeing Workshops - First Year Students, University of Surrey
Fictionalizing the Personal Story - blog for Annecdotal (run by Anne Goodwin)
Running Online Supervision Workshop for Kent & Sussex Writing for Wellbeing Group
2016
Presentation: Writing: Trust & Process. NAWE Conference. November
Presentation at Critical Voices Event in Tunbridge Wells. 11th June.
The Cabin on the Hill Retreat for Women Writers appeared in Women’s Huts and Hideaways by Gill Heriz (Cico Books).
2015
Presentations (readings & discussion) for Lapidus - The Writing for Wellbeing Organisation
The Truth & Lies of Writing (Cardiff); Visible Vulnerability (Norfolk); Creative Therapeutic Writing: Links, Differences & Overlaps (London).
Soul Works at the Forest Row Festival, East Sussex.
Short Story in True Tales from the Old Hill. Frogmore Press.
Poem in The Needlewriters. Frogmore Press.
Contributions to Writing for Therapy or Personal Development Series. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
The Writer’s Key: Introducing Creative Solutions for Life (2013) by Gillie Bolton.
Write Yourself – Creative Writing and Personal Development (2011) by Gillie Bolton.
Writing Routes: A Resource Handbook of Therapeutic Writing (2010) edited by Gillie Bolton, Victoria Field and Kate Thompson.
Chapter: A Legacy of Understanding in Dying Bereavement and the Healing Arts (2008) edited by Gillie Bolton. (pp.139-147).
Writing Works (2006) edited by Gillie Bolton, Victoria Field and Kate Thompson.
Contributions to Journals
Articles and Reviews in the Lapidus Journal.
Learning Through Example in Art in Palliative Care edited by Gillie Bolton. Progress in Palliative Care. Vol. 14. Number 4. 2006.
Rubber Bucket (prose poem) Training Link: Newsletter of the Universities of Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield Clincial Training Courses. No 70. October 2005.