Let's Talk About Journaling Part 1: Why to Give it a Try

Earlier this year, I completed a continuing education class entitled "Incorporating Journaling and Expressive Writing into Clinical Practice". When talking about coping strategies, journaling is one of those I occasionally get eye rolls over. The largest pushbacks I get are concerns around privacy, time, or just not knowing how to start. My hope in taking the class was to learn some strategies to shine a better light on the journaling process. 

And the class helped! The presenter suggested reading Journal to the Self: Twenty-Two Paths to Personal Growth by Kathleen Adams, M.A. When I read for professional reasons, I mark up and dog-ear pages for easy reference points down the road. The more annotated the book is by the end, the more I got out of it. I marked up this book a TON. As such, this is part 1 of a blog series on what stands out to me and how I use it in my clinical practice. 

Today’s focus is on why to even give journaling a try. 

The book gives several reasons. The reason that jumped out to me was that journaling can help to shorten the time therapy takes: “My own experience tells me that when a journal is used in conjunction with a program of therapy, in most cases the client moves through issues more quickly and integrates new learnings more readily…..you can save yourself both money and time because the journal generally helps to accelerate the therapeutic process.” (p.17). In my practice, therapy is designed to have an endpoint. As much as I enjoy working with my clients, the relationships are temporary. The endpoint may be three sessions or more than three years. Eventually, the client’s life will change enough in one way or another that therapy is no longer necessary, which is excellent. If journaling, even casually, helps a client reach that endpoint faster, I am all for it. 

Link to Amazon for Journal to the Self