Healing yourself through journal writing

Perhaps you kept a diary as a teenager. Maybe you used to keep a journal, but don't seem to find time for it any longer. Maybe you have never taken the time to write just for yourself. I suggest that now is a good time to pick up the pen and paper and start anew.

Writing in a journal is a great way to stay healthy and focused emotionally. Writing gives you the opportunity to get your thoughts and feelings down on paper so you can have a different perspective. In writing, it is necessary to slow down our thoughts in order to get them down. This interrupts our normal human tendencies of ruminating over and over or jumping quickly from thought to thought. Journal writing helps you to know yourself better so that you are able to make better decisions for yourself in your life.

Many people feel a greater sense of confidence and self awareness after keeping a journal for a period of time. Some feel that it enhances their creativity. Many enjoy the ritual of taking time just for themselves to explore their inner world.

You can buy a beautifully bound artful journal if you wish, but you don't have to. You can use any kind of paper at all - lined notebook paper works just fine. Make sure to keep your journal private - just for your eyes. That's the real secret to having a successful experience with keeping a journal. You may on rare occasion want to share entries with a trustworthy helpful person, such as your therapist, but in general, your journal is just for you.

I suggest free writing, where you write spontaneously without judging or pre-thinking what you are writing. Just let you pen flow. You might want to try this way of writing for a certain amount of time or number of pages each day.

You can also use your journal in a number of other ways. A popular personal journal is the dream journal, in which you record your nightly dreams. Some people keep a small light on their nightstand so they can capture their dreams as they may awaken briefly during the night. When keeping a dream journal, make sure to write down your dreams as soon as you wake up - that way your dreams are fresh in your memory. You can read over your dreams after a time to see if you notice themes or patterns. There are many popular books available on working with your dreams. Dream interpretation is most important when it comes from your own sense of the dream.

Some people find keeping a journal is very useful for problem solving. You can explore problems are a variety of possible solutions in your journal before implementing action in real life. You can write down the results of your action, so you can learn from your successes as well as missteps.

Many find that adding images is an exciting way to work with a journal. You can clip out images from magazines and glue them into your journal, or if you like, you can draw images to go along with your writing.

The most important part of Journaling is to respect the process. Go where you need to go with your explorations, and please seek guidance and support if you discover intense pain and difficulty. A licensed therapist can be very helpful in addition to writing in your journal.

If you live in Sonoma County and are seeking a licensed psychotherapist, please call me at (707) 522-0485. I look forward to hearing from you.

©2009, Katherine Kirk, MA, MFT, MFC46475
www.KatherineKirkMFT.com

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