[DP_2017]

Since my first session, my T has encouraged journaling, and it helps to a point... recently I thought of the idea to write letters to my beloved dog when I am going through some emotions over it because it gets very overwhelming and I can't always talk to someone....

Anyway does anyone else here journal? do you find it helpful? Do you ever do letter type stuff like I suggested above?

[magicalprince]

I journal a fair bit. Oftentimes in the form of letters... I find it pretty helpful. Sometimes it helps you organize thoughts and feelings in a way you just can't do unless you put them on paper.

[Deejay14]

Journaling at different times in my life has been very helpful. Even if you think you have nothing to write write about the weather. It's a good habit to keep. Also helpful to have a record of how far you have come on issues. Always been well worth the effort for me!

[Grath]

I've been on-and-off journaling for years.
I think it helps to keep track of your feelings and emotions on certain days and to track your progress / what has changed in your life. It's often difficult for me to tell if my mood has changed over a longer period of time, so it'd surely be helpful to me (However, I keep losing interest after a few days/weeks)

I find journaling useful, in relation to therapy or otherwise. I think it's a good way to process things effectively with some distance, putting feelings and perceptions into context and a larger analysis. I liked to send these writings to my Ts in emails but it was quite difficult to make them understand that I was doing it as a way of processing experiences and feelings and not to seek attention and response. I think I liked to share it with them because then I felt I was not just conversing with myself and the information and conclusions did not get lost stuck in my mind and privacy.

[MessyD]

I️ find it useful when I️ feel overwhelmed by thoughts in my head. Helps me organize it a bit. I️ don’t do it often however, because I am a bit paranoid and always think someone will read it, so I️ still censor it or really just scribble everything down so even I️ am not able to read it later. And now I’m realizing that I’m still probably ashamed of my feeling as I️ never really read it again and eventually will throw it all out anyway. But I️ have found it helpful when anxiety kicks in or when I’m trying to put something together for my T.

[MrsDuckL]

I do, I started a journal around the time I started therapy 6 months ago. I just use an app on my iPhone (journaling). I like using an app so I can capture thoughts as they happen or if I have a panic attack, etc. I also seem to do a fair amount of journaling at my office, so a phone journal is easier. I probably journal every other day or so, and always right after my therapy sessions to keep track of what we discussed, thoughts, etc. I’m a really organized person and journaling has helped me make sense of thought patterns.

[InnerPeace111]

I journal. I began journaling after my T suggested it in our very first session. I was hooked and have kept up with it ever since. I keep an actual physical journal — not a journal online. I fill it with all kinds of things: my thoughts (of course), quotations, prayers, habit trackers, pictures, my bucket list, my life/therapy goals, instructions for relaxation exercises and meditation, coloring pages, affirmations/mantras, a self-care wheel, ideas for a 108-day mindfulness challenge, etc. My journal looks pretty and I love adding to it. It has been a tremendous help to me during difficult times. And, yes, I use it for writing letters too.

[Fernwehxx]

I started journaling when I started therapy. It helps me to sort myself out, to get to the emotions that otherwise just hide behind symptoms.
I write letters to my inner child sometimes.

I am way better at writing than at talking, and sometimes emotions seem to get stuck in my throat, and I just can't say them, but I can always write them down.
I have handed my journal to my therapist, too, in order for her to read certain pages.

[Elio]

I journal. I started journaling as part of my therapy. I give about 95% of what I write to my T. She reads them between sessions. Often I will read portions of what I wrote in session - initially, I would have her read those portions silently to herself because I couldn't voice them. At times I write letters to her in the journal. I write the journal to her even when it is not a letter. When I first started writing the journal it was more for me; however, the more I started sharing with her the more it just seemed to make sense to refer to her as "you" rather than "she/her". It makes it interesting when I do slip back and refer to her (or myself) in 3rd person.

I also use the journal to bring up things I'm not ready to talk about so that she has time to figure out how she'll handle it before I bring it up - especially around me wanting to ask something of her.

Sometimes, nothing is ever said about what was written. She rarely brings up anything I wrote but when I do bring it up or bring up something similar she'll refer back to it.

I have found it incredibly helpful.

[RaineD]

I keep session notes. No way I'd share them with my therapist though.

I also kept a blog on Medium for several months. That project has sort of fizzled out, unfortunately. I should pick it back up again. I was gathering tons of followers for a while, but then therapy stalled and I stopped wanting to write about it.

[annielovesbacon]

I've been journaling since I was a young girl. It is absolutely the best way for me to process my thoughts. As Flannery O'Connor once said, "I never know what I think until I read what I say."
I try to write at least something small every day (but I don't always, lol). Sometimes it's just a wrap-up of my day. Sometimes it's "word vomit" that doesn't make any sense, but it makes me feel better to move the words from my brain to a piece of paper. Sometimes I write letters -- to my therapist, to myself, to people who have hurt me, to people I love -- not to send, just for me to write. I always do a write-up after each therapy session, both for me to decompress and process, and to keep a record of what we've talked about so I can remember it the next session.
Everyone is different, but for me writing is the best way for me to process my emotions.

[PinkyDoo]

I've been journaling on and off for years. Usually, it's during unhappy times, like when I'm having problems or I have something to complain about. Because of this, I call it my b***h book. It can help me put things in to perspective or just get things off my chest so I can quit ruminating on them. I'm trying to use it more during happy times, too. Gratitude.

I like what InnerPeace wrote about journaling, and I might try to do more of that, myself. I already do this to some extent with my bullet journal. Since I use my bujo primarily as a planner at work, I keep it less personal.

I also worry about people finding my journal and reading it. To keep myself from not writing what's really on my mind out of fear, though, I tell myself that if someone finds it and reads it and doesn't like what they have read, then they shouldn't have invaded my privacy. I write a lot of things because I don't want to say them out loud, as they would serve no purpose but to hurt.

[InnerPeace111]

I think the reason that a lot of people find journaling so helpful is because it (the paper) gives our thoughts a place to land, so to speak, outside of our head.