Help! My Therapist Has Suggested I Journal. What Does That Mean?

I previously wrote about two important behaviours to learn that will be useful for your therapeutic journey. One of them was checking in, the other was journaling. In this article I am going to expand on journaling.

Where

The first thing is to get yourself a journal. It doesn’t need to be fancy; a bound exercise book will do nicely. It is your choice to have it with lines or plain pages. I prefer plain pages as I am often drawing in my journal, and I like to see how my unconscious wants to fill the page. Mostly I use an ink pen, but you might like to use a pencil. I find there is something about a pen and paper that allows a freedom for my unconscious to be creative, and information to arise. I appreciate that some of you might like to use an electronic device such as an iPad with a stylus. It is your choice, as it is your journey.

When

Try to write daily as well as after a therapy session. You don’t need to write an essay; a few sentences or even key words will capture information. I remember years ago when I started therapy, that my days passed in a bit of a blur, and that sometimes it was hard to recall what happened earlier in the month or week.  I find this is a common factor with many people starting therapy. Having a journal helps to hold information and allows you to flick back through what you have written to see any patterns. You might notice you can make more sense of your emotions, when you read about what was happening for you at the time. The trick is to consider writing ‘fun’ and not a ‘chore’.

What

You have a book, and you are ready to write. What do you put in there?

After your therapy session, capture your check in: what did you say about your physical body, thinking, emotions and behaviours? Then you might like to journal some of the themes that you talked about including any words or images that stood out for you. With my clients I invite them to check in with their physical response to something either they have said, or I have mirrored back to them. From this a word or an image might appear eg a balloon or hammer. Write it down and draw it to further bring it up to consciousness.

Daily material that you might journal about might include any situations that you find have ‘hooked’ you. That is, something has happened to you, and you can’t stop thinking about it. Write as much as you can about it. These are good things to bring to therapy to untangle together. You might write about sounds that moved you (such as music) or smells that impact you (such as flowers or tobacco). Note as much information as you can, including your body reaction. And of course, this is a brilliant time to practice the skills of checking in and noting your response.

There is one more very important thing to put in your journal: dreams. But that is the topic of the next article.