Is Journal Therapy helpful?
· Kelly Anthony
Photo by Hannah Jacobson on Unsplash
According to the Center for Journal Therapy, journaling is the act of writing down thoughts and feelings to sort through problems and come to deeper understandings of oneself or the issues in one’s life. Unlike traditional diary writing, where a person records their daily events and happenings are from an exterior point of view, journal therapy focuses on the writer’s internal experiences, reactions, and perceptions. Through this act the writer is able to gain insight into what they are experiencing more clearly, allowing them to feel a relief of inner tension which has both mental and physical health benefits. Additionally, for some people the experience has helped them to resolve issues that had left them feeling stuck sometimes for years, with no resolution.
Benefits to Journal Therapy
Journal Writing Can Decrease Stress, Depression, and Anxiety According to Positive Psychology.com there are numerous mental health benefits of journal writing. Therapists have encouraged this practice to help people to resolve longstanding issues about relationships at home and work and has given them the ability to learn to put into words feelings that have been too sensitive to describe face to face. After writing down their thoughts and feelings some clients will then show their writing to significant others and have found this helpful to communicate more effectively. By releasing pent up their distress onto paper many people find relief from overwhelming emotions and racing thoughts and as a result can focus more clearly and feel less stressed.
Gratitude Journal Therapy
Many therapists recommend a specific form of journaling called gratitude journal as part of their journey, as it has been shown to be effective to increase mood and allow people to focus on the positive things in their life rather than the negative. Psychology Today reports some of the benefits of gratitude in this article here, Do Gratitude Journals Really Work?
The goal is to spend at least five minutes of your day writing down all of the things in your life that you are grateful for, however, you may soon learn that when you teach yourself to focus on all of the good things, you may need more than five minutes!