BRUNSWICK

With more than 20 years as a licensed clinical social worker, Jennifer Noel felt it was time to embrace her two passions in life — helping people and writing. With that goal in mind, she left her old practice in Topsham and opened Room to Write at 56 Maine St.

Nestled above Glazed in a building that houses social workers, massage therapists and Pilates lessons, Noel quickly saw that her new home was already built for healing.

Noel said that despite working as a psychotherapist for 20 years, she had yet to find a way of integrating her life as a writer into her professional world.

“Then I was trained in a method called internal family systems,” Noel said.

“Internal family systems is about seeing ourselves as a collection of parts and if you get really angry it doesn’t mean you’re an angry person, it means you have an angry part,” Noel said.

After several trainings, Noel said she wanted to do a workshop involving internal family systems and proprioceptive writing — a way of exploring the mind through writing. She organized a workshop at her former practice a couple of times before presenting her ideas to the Maine Mental Health Counselors Conference.

“It felt really right, so I took a sabbatical from my practice because I was really not happy focusing all my energy on being a psychotherapist,” Noel said.

It was at this time Noel started teaching psychology at Southern Maine Community College, realizing a new found love for teaching, writing and organizing. She said she found a space and just decided to go all in — helping people through writing.

With her recent grand opening, Noel has begun signing people up for classes of no more than eight with various focuses.

Noel’s space is decorated with comfortable furnishings in a bright room overlooking Maine Street. Sounds of nature play in the background and quality coffee and tea are available — something Noel said is very important to the process.

Noel offers what she calls Life Story Coaching, a consultation for those who want to write life stories — whether to publish or not. She also said she provides local or remote one-on-one writing instruction and support in any methods used in Room to Write.

Currently, Noel is offering Writing from the Self, a sixweek workshop offering a therapeutic writing method “for locating lost parts of yourself and hearing parts’ stories.” Noel also offers a version of this course specifically for mental health professionals. These courses begin in mid-September.

Noel also offers a Write and Shine Morning Journaling

Group for Well-being, which is another six-week course offering guidance and prompts. The journaling group begins in early October.

Other offerings coming in late 2015 and early 2016 are Writing Through Divorce, Writing Relief for Moms and If You Want to Write — a course based on a book written by Brenda Ueland in 1938.

Noel said that prices run from $245 for the mental health professionals sessions to $280 for Writing from the Self and $180 for Write and Shine Morning Journaling. Students can stay on after their six weeks are up or move on if they wish to make way for new clients.

“The intent is to make writing accessible and unscary, and inspire people who feel like ‘I always wanted to write but I can’t.’”

dmcintire@timesrecord.com