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#1
May 29, 2010, 05:18 PM
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I've been trying to do some journaling between sessions to keep myself busy and it usually it goes pretty well. Lately, though, I'm stuck and I don't want to just keep writing "x more days until my next session and that seems like a long time." So, I thought I'd turn to my fellow PCers for some inspiration and help coming up with some thought provoking questions to ponder in my journaling this week. Thoughts? I'm ready to get deep here people!
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^Polaris "Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it." ~ Irving Berlin 
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#2
May 29, 2010, 05:34 PM
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I use to keep track of my dreams and try to cross-reference them to what we talked about in therapy. I use to be excited on the night of the day I had therapy as I knew there'd be all sorts of stuff trying to get out :-)
I think up "experiments" too; try to look for and write down the best thing that happens each day or the thing that happened where I learned the most and that helped as I'd have to stay alert, watching for good, therapeutic things happening.
__________________
"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance." ~Confucius |
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#3
May 29, 2010, 06:12 PM
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i really think the best thing for journaling (which i don't do very much) is just to write. and keep writing. for at least 10 minutes, you will be surprised at what comes out. I suppose it is free associating on paper
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#4
May 29, 2010, 06:19 PM
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I write about things that happened to come up for me, and how they made me feel or what they made me remember from my past--kind of like connecting the dots. Or sometimes I write about a reaction I had to a book I am reading or to a movie I saw. Or to current events. Sometimes I write poems or will look on the Internet for an image that recapitulates what I have been feeling and then paste that in to my journal document (I do mine in Word). Last week my roommate from college died and I wrote some memories about her in my journal--the traits that I admired her for and made me like her so, some of our fun times together, etc. "Anything goes" in your journal; you can't make a mistake. Just write whatever comes up for you or that you want to explore. A journal is an opportunity to learn about yourself.
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"Therapists are experts at developing therapeutic relationships." Last edited by sunrise; May 29, 2010 at 07:39 PM. |
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#5
May 29, 2010, 06:41 PM
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You can try doing art therapy with your non-dominate hand... and then see what comes out. You can also ask yourself questions and allow the non-dominate hand to answer. I am amazed at how much I keep hidden from myself that comes out if I ask myself that way. The non-dominate hand "trick" works to access subconscious information. If you like, start with simple "YES" and "NO" questions. You can even lay down flat on your back and put the non-dominate hand up into the air and let it go back and forth for no and up and down (head to toe) for yes. I started out this way and now I can have complete conversations with my internal selves by "air writing" the answers that way.
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#6
May 29, 2010, 07:25 PM
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Hm. Well, no laughing, but here are some things i do that seem to get it started and feelings moving.
i write a letter to me about how i feel about me. For examples: "Dear Solarwind, i hate you and you make me want to vomit. You should never have been born because you are waste of space. Do you know why you are a waste of space?" "Dear Solarwind, you were smart today when you got all your math questions right. Congrats to you! i never really feel smart and mostly i feel stupid. all my life i was told i was stupid. " And then i go from there. It usually opens up alot. Also, sometimes i start by choosing a color or a letter or a number and go from there. For example: "Today i am choosing the letter A. Immediately this is very easy for me to write about because A=alone and i feel alone all the time. i have no family which makes me really different than everyone else. In fact A=Adopt and i wish someone would adopt me like you T." See? |
 rainbow8, WePow
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#7
May 29, 2010, 08:52 PM
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Art journaling had really helped me. I can't draw, but I will color my pages, and often the color or intensity with which I put it down will tell me a lot about how I feel. Sometimes I just doodle, or color a whole page black. Doing this gives me time to just think, without forcing anything...and often gives me some insight into what I need to delve into next with T.
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#8
May 29, 2010, 08:59 PM
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i journal a lot because i have a hard time in T but i usually write what i was thinking in my last session and see how it takes me i write down memories a lot and that sometimes brings up new things i have forgot.i write fanticies sometimes ill pick a person of importance in my life and write about that person and my experiances etc..sometimes ill also write down things i wish to talk about in therapy
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#9
May 30, 2010, 09:32 AM
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Thanks everyone. These are all great ideas. I've never really tried art in my journal, but now I am anxious to give it a try. In fact, all these ideas are going to keep me so busy I won't have time for anything but journaling. Yay. This is just what I was hoping for. Thanks again PC.
__________________
^Polaris "Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it." ~ Irving Berlin
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#10
May 30, 2010, 11:46 AM
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I do a bit of art journaling...and I don't know if it exactly has brought me any "answers", but it is relaxing and I can lose hours in it. If you want to check my stuff out go to http://catharticcreativity.blogspot.com
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#11
May 30, 2010, 12:37 PM
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Quote:
 And I love your cat, too.  Thanks so much for sharing!!
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#12
May 30, 2010, 12:50 PM
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I agree - that art is WONDERFUL, Velcro!!!
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#13
May 30, 2010, 03:10 PM
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Some of the best topics I have been given by my T to write about are a general "write about your mother" and see what comes up. Though this is a heavy topic and I wrote page after page. The same for "write about your father" Or...a good one is...write about someone or something that riggered you or got you "overly" upset or when you felt like you overreacted. A lot has come up for me when I do that. I learn a lor t when I re-read it and see where the energy behind my reactions really come from.
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#14
May 30, 2010, 03:11 PM
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L4P, i have a book that asks 52 questions one each week, but it is for survivors of CSA, so I don't know if it would work for you... but ....its called "Beyond Survival" by Maureen Brady... it has been very helpful to me
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#15
May 30, 2010, 03:13 PM
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Quote:
Quote:
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#16
May 30, 2010, 03:18 PM
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One of the hard things for me is that I'm so tired at the end of the day I can't usually get much written out. So, I've taken to writing up some thoughts when they come to me, in the middle of the day at work - I type them on the computer and then I can print them out and stick them in my journal. Some weeks I've not used the journal book but just the computer.
It has also helped me to get the thoughts out of my head, so then I can get back to work 
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