top of page

Healing Practices: Journaling

Writer's picture: Kathleen ShookKathleen Shook


Journaling. The act of writing one's thoughts, experiences, and feelings. If a part of you cringes at the thought of journaling (maybe from a bad experience in school of being forced to write), relax. The journaling practices that will be outlined in here are meant for healing, and therefore look very different. I will walk you through the benefits of journaling, some general guidelines, two specific practices, and how to make it a habit.


Benefits of Journaling

The journaling practices outlined in this post have been found to have the physical and mental health benefits listed below. Checkout the articles referenced at the bottom of this post for a more in depth read on these benefits and the studies involved.

  • Improved sleep

  • Improved immune functioning

  • Increased creativity

  • Improved memory functioning

  • Improved problem solving

  • Improved clarity around your thoughts and feelings

  • Decreased anxiety and depression

  • Decreased PTSD symptoms

  • Decreased experience of pain

  • Lowered blood pressure


General Guidelines

  • Throw grammar, spelling, structure and legibility out the window. For healing practices, we do not care if you are making a complete sentence. It doesn't matter if you spelt your words correctly. And your handwriting...it does not have to be legible.

  • Write as though no one will ever read it. Really. Let everything out on the paper. Do not hold back. We are constantly filtering what we say, sometimes even in the therapy space (although...I challenge you to let go of your filter here, too). Journaling for healing means that the part of us who is worried about what people will think can relax.

  • Destroy. Shred. Delete. Burn (please do so safely). Really, no one is meant to read this.

  • Write by hand or by typing. Whichever feels more healing for you. Some evidence shows there is no real difference between the two. However, some people experience handwriting to be much more beneficial.

  • If handwriting, use a cheap composition notebook. Don't invest in a beautiful journal for this practice. The pretty journals are often the hardest to openly write in because we are worried about messing up the journal itself.


Practice 1: Morning Pages

The Morning Pages was developed by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way (highly recommend). To begin this practice set aside a timeframe in which you will write 3 pages every single morning (takes about 30minutes). Follow the general guidelines above and allow yourself to write a free flow of consciousness until you have filled up 3 pages in your journal. What is a free flow of consciousness? It is absolutely anything on your conscious mind. Maybe you write about your agenda for the day, your conflict with your friend, the dream you had last night, your grocery list, or that really annoying thing you can't seem to get over. When you encounter writers block (and you will), you simply keep writing even if it's about the block itself (ie. "I'm not sure what to write about now...I guess I just keep putting words to paper...eventually this has to stop, right?"). The block is a powerful part of the journey and can lead to breakthroughs in your processing. I recommend trying to commit to at least 2 weeks of this form of writing every single day to begin to experience the incredible positive impact it can have on your mental health.


Practice 2: Therapeutic Journaling/Expressive Writing

Therapeutic journaling (also referred to as expressive writing) has various studies showing strong evidence that this form of journaling is not only beneficial to mental health but also to physical health. When practicing therapeutic journaling you are going to select 4 consecutive days to spend 15--30minutes (set a timer) to write about the same distressing event or situation impacting your life all 4 days. Follow the general guidelines mentioned earlier in this post. If it's your first time doing this, select a distressing event or situation that you can tolerate writing about (ie. do not pick the most disturbing life event you have ever been through). Write about the facts of the event, facts of how you felt then and feel now about it, and facts about how the event has impacted your life today. It is normal to feel bad while writing about the event, so take breaks if you need to and schedule yourself some extra time after your 15--30minutes are up to do something soothing for yourself. And by all means, if you are experiencing a significant amount of stress while doing this practice and it feels intolerable, please stop.


Make it a Habit using James Clears Laws

  • Make it Attractive with a satisfying ritual with your journaling practice. Add a hot cup of tea or coffee. Select a soothing location with nice lighting. Light a candle just before you start writing.

  • Make it Attractive (again) by inviting a friend to join you in this practice and check-in with each other every few days to see how it's going. (Best used for the Morning Pages practice).

  • Make it Obvious and Easy by putting your composition notebook and pen on the floor by your bed so you are forced to step over it when you wake up and remember to journal. Or put it by your coffee pot the night before so you have to reach over it before you can make yourself coffee.

  • Make it Satisfying by rewarding yourself following writing sessions with something that feels good for your system. Dark chocolate? A smoothie? A funny YouTube video?

  • Make it Satisfying (again) by creating a habit tracker. Create a journaling calendar (Morning Pages) or check-list (Expressive Writing). Each time you complete your journal entry, check the day off. If you miss a day, it's okay! Just commit to jumping back in the following day.


If these practices feel too hard or even scary, you are not alone. You may benefit from therapy. Give me a call. In therapy I can help you learn to regulate these big emotions so you can safely process through the hurt and find healing on the other side.


*Disclaimer: Journaling is not a substitute for meeting with a therapist trained to support you in working through your emotions and past experiences. While some level of distress is normal and even healthy, they should not feel harmful or intolerable. If this practice ever feels intolerable, then listen to your body and stop. Go do something to take care of yourself.


Reference Articles:



4 views

Recent Posts

See All

© 2023 by Shook Counseling. Powered and secured by Wix.

bottom of page