Journaling: The Steps to Take to Keep You on Track
Journaling: The Steps to Take to Keep You on Track
I think we’ve all experienced being told that journaling will fix all of our problems. It seems unrealistic to think that simply writing about our feelings can actually make us feel better, but it actually can be that easy! Journaling doesn’t have to consume much of your valuable time, and good news, I’m here as a therapist to look at the benefits and help people learn how to journal right! As a therapist, it’s part of my job to find out what helps people improve their mental and physical health.
What is Journaling?
I think we all feel like we have a basic understanding of what “journaling” is, and that it’s mostly writing about things that have happened, your feelings, or both. This is partially right! Journaling consists of writing about anything you’d like; however, scientific research shows that there are more benefits to different ways of journaling. The main and most beneficial types of journaling are Expressive Journaling and Gratitude Journaling. Next, look at how these can improve your life and how to make progress towards implementing regular journaling.
Psychological Benefits of Journaling
A study published by the Family Medicine and Community Health Journal shows that two types of journaling have significant benefits to improve mood and mental health outcomes. It showed that expressive journaling and gratitude journaling both help to decrease symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders. They have all the numbers and statistics, which are incredibly important to me, and I have found in my friends, clients, and myself how helpful it can be. Journaling can help us process our feelings, discover who we want to be, or look at a situation more objectively so we can heal from it.
Physiological Benefits of Journaling
Something I wasn’t expecting was discovering how beneficial journaling is for our physical health! A study by Cambridge University Press showed immediate and long-term improvements in decreased blood pressure, improved immune system functioning, improved lung and liver function, and fewer days spent in the hospital after an injury or illness. This translates day to day as less pressure headaches for us, being sick fewer times throughout the year, and having access to more of our physical and emotional energy!
Expressive Journaling
For expressive journaling, this is all about working through difficult experiences, emotions, or past traumas. The studies recommend setting a timer for 15-20 minutes and begin journaling about whatever past, present, or future stressful or traumatic event you feel is weighing you down the most now. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or how pretty it looks. Instead, just write all of what you’re feeling. This can be very difficult and emotional, so make sure to bring some tissues and make time for self-care after. This type of journaling has been most beneficial for people who have had a traumatic experience, survivors of abuse, and people diagnosed with a trauma-related disorder.
Gratitude Journaling
Now on to a different type of journaling! Gratitude journaling can be done in many different ways, including writing about things or people you are grateful for. An article published in the Psychotherapy Research journal encourages people to use the format of writing a letter to someone you are grateful for! Their study showed that after 4 weeks, people showed significant improvements in mood and social connections.
How to Journal and Keep it Consistent
So, I bet now, you’re wondering how to get started. Since the authors in the research have found that some journaling is better than others, how do we do it right? When most of us think about journaling, we picture just recording what happened throughout the day, but this kind of journaling doesn’t really benefit us at all. Making sure to follow the prompts and instructions I mentioned earlier in the post, you also want to find a good way to make this a healthy habit for you. Keep in mind, we always want progress, not perfection, so try not to get down on yourself if you miss a few days or don’t meet your own goal. A great way to start is to begin by making some time for journaling. It’s good to plan to journal at a similar time each day, maybe with coffee in the morning or tea at night! If you’re struggling to put something down on paper, just write down anything! It can be a great exercise to reflect on and write about how your body is feeling. This doubles as starting to journal and a quick mindfulness exercise.
Happy Journaling!
I hope this quick look at the benefits of journaling is helpful in improving your life! Journaling can be a good habit to get into to keep yourself happy and healthy alongside self-care and a good daily routine. Journaling can be hard to start, but just use the tools in this post and give it a try, and before you know it, you’ll feel an improvement in your mind and body.
Written by: Mary Tesch, LPCC
References
Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11(5), 338–346. https://doi.org/10.1192/apt.11.5.338
Sohal M, Singh P, Dhillon BS, Gill HS. Efficacy of journaling in the management of mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Family Medicine and Community Health. 2022;10:e001154. https://doi.org/10.1136/fmch-2021-001154
Wong, Y. J., Owen, J., Gabana, N. T., Brown, J. W., McInnis, S., Toth, P., & Gilman, L. (2016). Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy Research, 28(2), 192–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2016.1169332
