When Elizabeth Perlman first encountered the AWA method in 2012, she was studying at JFK University, getting a master’s degree in Transformative Art. There she met AWA facilitator and instructor Mary Tuchscherer, who invited Perlman to a workshop.
As she experienced the method for the first time, Perlman recalls, she felt like she could finally relax into writing.
“It felt like, this is it, this is what I want to do,” says Perlman, who trained as an AWA facilitator that same year.
“I’d always dreamed of creating a girl-focused writing program but, once I attended my AWA training, I knew I’d found the foundation.”
Her dream became The Intuitive Writing Project (TIWP), which, as far as Perlman is aware, is the largest, oldest and only youth-focused organization for girls grounded in AWA.
Since she launched the project in 2013 from her base in Oakland, California, TIWP has facilitated more than 4,000 hours of classes and workshops for more than 500 girls, publishing more than 850 pieces of student writing and five printed anthologies.
In June, Perlman moved to Asheville, North Carolina. But in the plot twist she never saw coming, hurricane Helene compelled her to evacuate to Greenville, SC, where she is now working to expand the program on the East coast.
“Over time our writers learn to see themselves as the authors and leaders of their own livesa—and that changes everything,” Perlman says.
“We believe in the power of telling your story,” she adds, “that everyone has their own intuitive wisdom and that we access it when we write.”
And the writing helps empower the girls who participate in TIWP activities. “We envision a world in which every girl has the confidence to direct their own life,” Perlman says, “to realize their value, trust their voice and declare what they know to be true.”
She believes wholeheartedly in the power of AWA writing to support social, emotional and mental health for young people, particularly girls. “I’ve seen the transformative power—it’s not therapy but it’s definitely therapeutic. In fact, our girls often tell me this, that they can’t stand to miss a class because they need the time to process their feelings, which they describe as ‘better than therapy.'”
The AWA method, as created by Pat Schneider, exemplifies feminine leadership, Perlman believes, which she emphasizes with the girls in the program, who range from third to twelfth-graders.
“Women’s leadership is collaborative, compassionate, nonhierarchical. It’s about everyone getting their needs met, everyone being heard and supported.
“What AWA does, more than any other system of writing or creativity, honors the equal unique brilliance of each person. Everyone is equally brilliant. It’s not about comparison or competition. I think this is especially important for us as females, since we tend to internalize the misogyny of our culture in the form of intense self-criticism and self-doubt. But AWA feels like the antidote to all that, because it empowers us to realize the value and power of our words, that we do have something to say and can always trust ourselves.”
She agrees with Peter Elbow—the emeritus professor of writing at UMass Amherst who wrote the foreword to Schneider’s book about the method, Writing Alone and With Others—that AWA is a most powerful and revolutionary writing method. “It provides an alternative experience to conventional society’s judgment and competition.”
In the dozen years of The Intuitive Writing Project’s existence, Perlman has seen what studies have demonstrated—that a regular practice of creative writing has been shown to lower stress levels, reduce anxiety, alleviate depression and improve the capacity to stay focused and calm. All that enhances cognitive abilities, she adds, which improves academic performance.
“We see that all the time—that our girls feel more resilient and better able to manage stress and other personal challenges,” Perlman says. “They feel more confident in themselves as writers and people. They can speak up, they can be big, they can be loud, they can be their fullest selves.”
For more information about The Intuitive Writing Project, see https://www.intuitivewritingproject.org/
AWA is working with Elizabeth and TIWP to develop a writing offering for girls through our Power of Story program.
If you want to experience the Method for yourself and you’re not the right fit for TIWP, you may be interested in our current Power of Story offerings for caregivers, people who are grieving, people with chronic and invisible illnesses, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) writers, teachers, and more, or our open online writing sessions, offered every month.
Thank you to Jan Haag, who conducted this interview and wrote the article. If you know an AWA leader doing important work and would like to suggest a blog feature to us, please let us know!