In the latest column by UTMB’s Dr. Victor S. Sierpina: An evolving field of health care is called narrative medicine. This involves having people use journaling, writing down aspects of their life story, poetry, short stories and other written reflections on what is happening or has happened in their lives. Such writing can be highly therapeutic. Well-documented studies published in the medical literature show journaling can relieve such conditions as pain, depression and asthmatic symptoms.