One of the things that you hear from therapists all of the time is “You should journal”, but have you wondered why that is such a go-to?

Journaling is something that humans have been doing for millennia and it has taken on many forms over this time. We can look at things like ancient cave drawings, stone tablets, paper or computers and see that humans don’t really change much. We write about things that are going on, around us in society, our feelings and even the drama that we have with our family or friends.

So why do we do it? Well, it depends on who you ask. For therapists, we understand the value of getting things out of our head and on to the page. It allows us to slow down our thoughts and helps us to process our emotions. The act of writing things out activates several parts of our brains and we know that writing helps us retain information better.

In the therapy world, journaling helps our clients to recognize when certain emotions are happening and can help our clients see patterns in our behavior that we may not see right away. There is also an added benefit of allowing us to get some of the unpleasant thoughts out of our brain and give us more of our mental energy back.

The way we might picture journaling is a pen and a notebook, but there are other ways to get the same benefit without all of the weight that physical notebooks can carry. I am a big fan of using videos to document my thoughts. The act of talking unfiltered into the camera helps me to make connections that I might never have made with writing it out. You can also achieve this same effect with voice memos or recordings.

However, sometimes words escape us and it’s hard to get those thoughts/emotions out when we don’t know the words to do it. You can use art to also help process those. You can paint, draw or create music that conveys that feeling without words. It’s one of the reasons that art therapy is so effective for many.

How you journal is entirely up to you and you can experiment with whatever medium speaks to you. If journaling isn’t working for you, it might be helpful to have a therapist talk with you about those thoughts/emotions to help you to reclaim your mental energy. If you’re in Ohio, you can book a consultation with Dryad Counseling to help! If you’re not in Ohio, sources like psychology today, good therapy or Open Path Psychotherapy Collective can help you find the right therapist for you.

#journaling #mentalhealth #mentalenergy #therapy #counseling