What is journaling and what are the ways journaling can help me?
Often, therapists suggest journaling to benefit your mental health. But how does this actually work? You can use journaling to clear your head so you can focus on your day without intrusive thoughts. It can also help you to reflect on your day and help you better understand yourself. Journaling can be helpful in a therapy setting, but it’s also an easy thing you can do for yourself. There are a few different types of journaling. Each one can benefit you in different ways.
Daily Log
Daily logs are the most common form of journaling that people know. We use them to observe how our day went by reflecting on the events and emotions that were experienced that day. By doing daily journals consistently, we can also look at patterns in our behavior or in our relationships that we didn’t notice before. This can lead to positive changes in ourselves. The best way to start a daily log journal is to write down what happened in your day. Also include how you felt about what happened and anything you learned from it. From the start, this is a good way to reflect on our days. Once you have been keeping the daily log for a while, you can look back and reflect on how you may have felt about certain issues or notice patterns in how you deal with problems.
Gratitude Journal
Sometimes, it becomes hard to focus on the good things that happen. In these cases it can be beneficial to keep a gratitude journal. A gratitude journal focuses on the good things that we have going on in our life. This helps us move ourselves from a negative perspective by reflecting on our day and seeing that it may not have been as bad as we may have originally thought. A good way to start this type of journal is to ask yourself questions like “what is something good that happened today?” Or, you can start by reflecting on something that made you happy during the day.
Deep Thought Journal
Sometimes we get stuck in thoughts that feel unshakable. Deep thought journals can help with this. By writing down your problems, you can release the thoughts from your head and be better able to focus. When doing a deep thought journal, write down things like:
- What is bothering you
- How you feel about it
- What may be causing that feeling
- Other thoughts related to the thing that’s bothering you
By writing down our big problems, we are better able to focus on the other things in our life. Try writing down what is going through your head in that moment. Acknowledge the feelings that you are feeling along with any thoughts that are going through your mind.
How to start
The best way to start is to jump right in! It can seem difficult just starting out, but there’s no right or wrong way to do it. Journaling is meant to be an opportunity for you to reflect, and however you choose to do that is up to you. If you are still feeling stuck, think about the type of journal you want to be keeping, and start there.
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Disclaimer: this content is not a replacement for mental health services with a licensed therapist and is for educational purposes only.