This blog shares how journaling can improve your mental health and well-being. The thought of journaling can be off-putting for different reasons. You may wonder, “what am I even going to write about?”, or “where do I begin?”. You may not be sure how to structure your writing, and worry that it’ll be disorganized or stressful.
While there are guided journals with prompts for each day, you can also pick up a regular notebook and get creative. You may want some more inspiration for what you could write about for the day. Or, you have an idea of what you’re feeling, and want to lay it out.
Journaling helps you reflect on the current highs and lows you’re experiencing. It can help you gain more insight and ability to reflect on patterns of behavior or thoughts. Furthermore, you can begin supporting yourself from a third person perspective.
If you’re interested in starting therapy in Simi Valley, CA, consider contacting us for more information. Our therapists specialize in anxiety, depression, trauma, teens, couples, and more. Make sure to read our blog on Taking Responsibility for Your Mental Health.
How Journaling Can Improve Your Mental Health and Well-Being: Expressing Difficult Feelings or Thoughts
Talking about difficult feelings or thoughts may not be something you’re comfortable with. You brush off your problems, don’t want to appear “weak-minded”, or don’t feel trusting in doing so. Therefore, you keep things bottled up within yourself, but they just remain inside – not being fully expressed.
Having a private journal to express yourself can help you in exploring and understanding what’s coming up for you. While it shouldn’t necessarily be an alternative to healthy communication, journaling can help you understand your thought patterns. Perhaps you have internal battles that you want to recognize, but aren’t sure how.
Some ideas for journaling difficult feelings or thoughts include:
- Focus on the sensations you’re experiencing in your body. Do you feel tense? Is your heart rate rising? Are you crying?
- Name what feelings may be coming up for you. You may be feeling depressed, unmotivated, scared, worried, betrayed, frustrated, etc.
- Describe the reasons for this. Did something recently happen? Is something from your past potentially resurfacing? How does this reaction affect you or your life?
It’s important to write objectively, and try to do so from a perspective that you’re witnessing yourself go through something. Journaling should feel like a release, but should not feel that you should agree with the negative thoughts as truths. This is just for expression!
Individual therapy in Simi Valley is a great place to begin exploring the inner workings of your mind. Make sure to read our blog on Having Self-Compassion When You Don’t Want To.
How Journaling Can Improve Your Mental Health and Well-Being: Being Able to Understand How You Can Meet Your Needs Moving Forward
By journaling, you’ve allowed yourself to feel a difficult way, and connected the dots to potential causes. It can be hard to admit when we’re struggling. We may not want to believe it ourselves, and turn to maladaptive coping strategies instead. However, you’re beginning to trust in yourself and grow as a person.
By pointing out how you are feeling about things, you are able to consider healthy coping skills. You know that you’re feeling sad, frustrated, hopeless, etc. What do you think you can do to support yourself in these moments? Alongside that, you now have awareness around yourself, and can easily label and identify bodily sensations and feelings.
You may want to reflect on your journaling by considering:
- What tends to help me calm down, self-regulate or feel relaxed?
- What would I tell someone else that’s in my situation?
- How can I improve communication around my feelings?
- What do I want others to understand about me?
- What areas can I continue growing in?
- How can I validate myself right now?
All of these are important questions to consider, whether during or after your journaling. As you continue to get more familiar with what your needs are, you will think of them during your daily life. This sets you up for improved mental health and well-being moving forward!
For therapy in Simi Valley, CA, consider contacting us for a free consultation. Make sure to read our blog on How to Sit with Discomfort.
How Journaling Can Improve Your Mental Health and Well-Being: Practicing Gratitude or Reflecting on Positive Moments
Journaling can be about positive and productive moments in your life. While journaling can be a great space for expressing and understanding difficult feelings, it’s also great for reflecting on the good. Practicing gratitude has many benefits, and is thought to even support your physical health.
There are journals out there that have guided prompts for each day. This may look like setting one goal, writing three things you are grateful for, and the highlight of your day. Even by independently writing this out, you can retain or regenerate positive thoughts and feelings.
As humans, we go through a range of emotions every single day. It could be that you’re experiencing stressors on a daily basis. This could come in the form of issues in relationships, self, career, education, the future, and more. It can be difficult to remain grounded and stay resilient.
Because of this, focusing on things to feel proud of, or good about, supports your mental health and well-being. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on what’s going well in our lives. We may want to track progress towards our goals, give ourselves some credit, and more. It’s also just nice to reflect on good memories or moments!
Journaling can seem like a mundane task. However, it’s a useful tool that can prove to be an effective coping skill for many. Consider trying out a guided journal, or selecting a unique journal to begin. In therapy in Simi Valley, our therapists tailor treatment to what will best fit your needs.
In-person therapy in Simi Valley is ideal for those seeking a separate, safe space from their home. Check out our blog on Online Therapy or In Office Therapy to understand what format is best for you. Another great blog to read is ours on if you need Therapy or Medication to address your issues.
By seeking out support, you can begin your journey to feeling relief. You don’t have to go through finding the right level of support alone, either. By clicking here, you’ll read our blog on Information About Simi Valley Therapists.
Consider calling our therapy group at (805) 774-1506 for a free consultation on how you or a loved one can get started today!
Seek out a validating, safe environment with us today. We will help you get to where you want to be. Our therapists provide trauma therapy, teen therapy, individual adult therapy, LGBTQIA+ therapy, anxiety therapy, depression therapy, family therapy, and more in-office in Simi Valley, CA.