Right after I left my T of 23 years, I started journaling. But I was so upset sometimes I was wordless, so I did in as an altered book, with images and only a few words. I used an old kid's book - I don't usually alter a book in okay shape, but this one was too good- it was Alice and wonderland , and if you turned it over and upside down it was Peter Pan. I used some of the words in the book, blacked out most of them and added picture- kind of a collage to each page telling the story of leaving and healing.

In terms of its value to me , it was a very good use of an old book, because the pictures and words already there got me going when I was " stuck" .

I showed it to my new T , she looked through it during the session, but didn't seem to " get it" like old T did. She did thank me for bringing it. But I've been writing a lot and think some of it might be good to share. Do any of you bring your journals in? Does your therapist read them right there in front of you?

She's been teasing me about being " cryptic" based on the visual journal. But i realized today that writing things out is still very much " in my head" , and the visual journal was very much about emotion. There are many tears built into the pages. So I started a new one. It's not ready to show her now, but I will want to. I guess I need to explain the difference to her - that the artwork is more healing than the words.