how much difference can you make, trying to help yourself?

How much can diary-writing, self-help-book reading, exercises and meditation help along with therapy?

I think it depends on the individual but for me it has been extremely beneficial. I keep a diary (and depending on my mood, will sometimes use it as a way to vent emotions and then destroy it... letting my negative emotions go with the paper) and over time have completed a number of self-help workbooks that have helped me to more thoroughly understand my feelings and anxieties.

All I can suggest is to give them a go, if you find that they aren't giving you the support you need you can always stop

I don't keep a diary but I do write lists and notes and that helps me keep my thoughts organized-they tend to spin around in circles otherwise!!

It can't hurt. I subscribe to the idea that any shelter in a storm will do. Take the help where you can get it, as long as it is a healthy source.

Writing for me-- Can Do Wonders Sometimes But then again other times it can just make me more upset -- Sometimes i need to verbalize my emotions... talking and getting validation in other words.

I agree Writing does not hurt-- When it is on the side that it just makes me more upset, it does help with me to construct on what to talk about- I.e. if I come to conclusion on my own with Some things, but the other things that I am still angry about when I write-- then I know more of what I need to vocalize to talk about.

Be well

My work in that area was perhaps 75-80% of my therapy help? It showed me what I needed to work on in therapy, it reminded me how well I was doing, it showed me dreams that were meaningful in light of therapy and what I was working on, it helped me "structure" therapy (like taking a course in a subject helps you structure your learning; the reading/writing/dream work, etc. was the course structure around the therapy subject).

The biggest help for me in this area was probably Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way book and working through it as well as working one-on-one with a good teacher in a correspondence writing course Long Ridge: http://www.longridgewritersgroup.com/).

I journal on and off sometimes I feel like I can't because I just have too much going on in my head and can not even begin to put it into words but I still feel like I have to put things down in which I use mind-mapping to do so when I have to many thoughts I just start typing at random what I am feeling and try to organize it.