How to Start Journaling for Mental Health and Well-being: Tips and Strategies
Journaling is a simple yet powerful practice that can benefit our mental health in many ways. Journaling is a valuable tool for improving mental health and well-being that anyone can benefit from, regardless of age, background, or experience.
By writing down our thoughts, emotions, and experiences in a journal or diary, we create a safe space for reflection, exploration, and growth.
““Journaling is a powerful tool for managing stress, gaining clarity, and promoting self-awareness and personal growth.””
Journaling can help us to reduce stress and anxiety by providing a means to release our worries and concerns. It can also help us to process our emotions, gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, and identify areas for personal growth and development. Furthermore, journaling can enhance our creativity by allowing us to tap into our imagination and explore new ideas.
Journalling is an effective, accessible and affordable therapeutic activity, so lets explore how to get started and how to actually do it.
Here we look at how to start, how to establish journalling into ones routine, as well as how exploring how one can start to reframe tricky thoughts as a helpful skill to practice within the journalling practice itself.
““Journaling is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time. It is an instant vacation, a chance to escape daily life and focus on your innermost thoughts. It is a way to clarify your thoughts and feelings, reduce stress, solve problems, and gain perspective. It is a vehicle for self-discovery, and a way to foster creativity and personal growth. If you are looking for a simple and effective way to improve your mental health and well-being, then journaling is the perfect place to start.” ”
How do I start to journal?
First things first, you will need a notepad of some-sorts that is dedicated to journalling and a pen! Done? Now you can begin.
People who start (and stick with) journaling often find the following strategies are helpful in the beginning.
Set aside a time to journal each day. Try to commit to writing every day. Doing something every day helps it become a habit. Simply set aside time (it could be as short as 5-10 minutes) for you to complete your journal. It could be every morning when you first wake up, in the evenings just before bed, or even during your lunch break.
Some people find that keeping a dedicated, consistent block of time helps them stay on track. The reality is, though, you can journal any time of the day, and it doesn’t have to be the same from day to day. Use what works best for you.Evenings are often a good time to journal – evening can provide you with a space to reflect on things that have come up during a day, which can prevent them from popping up so much at night time, when you want to wind down and switch off.
Set a time limit. If you feel like finding the time to journal is going to be stressful, set a realistic goal to move towards. Maybe you can only commit to writing 5-10 minutes a day in the beginning. That is absolutely fine. Work your way up to 15- 20 minutes, or longer, as you become more comfortable with the process. Or not, if you find 10 minutes works for you, then stick with that if it feels achievable within your daily routine.
Tricky thoughts – Notice the thoughts that show up regularly. It may be that you don’t need to write the most common ones down at length, rather to mark them on a tally – these are the repeated ‘stories’ our mind tells up. These are also the ones that may be useful to bring into your therapy session, or to have a go at reframing, using the below questions.
Finish with gratefulness – I have written an article on the benefit of nurturing gratitude, link here. Practicing gratitude does not mean ignoring the problems in life. In fact, focusing on the things we are grateful for can often help us to better cope with and overcome the challenges we face.
By finishing with focusing on gratitude we shift our focus from what's lacking in our life to what we already have, which can help to feel more positive, optimistic, and grateful. Over time, this simple practice can have a profound effect on your mental health and well-being.
Write down three things. Each day, write down three things that you're grateful for. These can be big or small, such as the love of a family member, the beauty of nature, or a simple pleasure like a warm cup of tea.
Reflect on why. After you write down each item, take a moment to reflect on why you're grateful for it. What positive impact does it have on your life?
How do I reframe the tricky thoughts?
Reframing negative or tricky thoughts (or some therapists call it cognitive reframing) can help improve our mental health because it involves changing the way we think about and interpret events or situations in a more positive or realistic light. When we have negative thoughts, they can lead to negative emotions, such as anxiety, sadness, or anger. These negative emotions, in turn, can lead to negative behaviours, such as avoidance or rumination, which can reinforce our negative thoughts and create a vicious cycle.
Reframing tricky thoughts helps to break this cycle by challenging them and replacing them with more positive, fair and realistic ones. By doing so, we can reduce the intensity of negative emotions and behaviours, and improve our overall mental health and well-being.
For example, if we have a negative thought like "I'm a failure," we can reframe it by asking ourselves, "What evidence do I have that supports this thought? What evidence do I have that contradicts it? Is this thought helpful or realistic?"
By challenging our negative thoughts in this way, we can develop a more balanced and positive perspective on ourselves and our lives, which can lead to better mental health outcomes.
An example of a more balanced and fair perspective of the thought “I’m a failure” could sound like:
"I've faced some setbacks, but I've also achieved successes in my life. I'm capable of learning from my mistakes and improving my skills and abilities."
This reframed thought acknowledges both the challenges and the strengths we have, while also highlighting our potential for growth and improvement. By focusing on our strengths and resilience, we can develop a more positive, empowering and growth mindset that can help us overcome obstacles and achieve our goals.
Reframing thoughts is a skill to be practiced. It is used to shift your mindset so you're able to look at a situation, person, or relationship from a slightly different perspective. Much of the Exposure Response Prevention and behavioural experiments I set in therapy sessions help people to gather evidence and facts to draw upon, which are used to help reframe negative, critical or anxious thoughts.
Reframing thoughts is something that you can do at home during your journaling space, or, with practice you can draw on this skill at anytime you notice or experience distorted/tricky thinking. The goal is to develop more healthy and helpful self-talk.
Questions you can ask yourself to help reframe tricky thoughts.
Step 1 – Write down the tricky thoughts. Note how they make you feel.
Step 2 – Validate your emotions and show yourself compassion – “I can see this is a really upsetting thought. It is not your fault this thoughts has shown up, it is a result of lots of tricky past experiences and beliefs.”
Step 3 – Use the questions below (not all of them will be relevant) to help you come up with some more fair, compassionate, and helpful perspectives.
1. What evidence do I have for this thought? Are there other ways of looking at the situation?
2. How would someone else think about this situation?
3. Are my judgements based on how I feel rather than what I did?
4. Am I over-estimating how responsible I am for the outcome of the situation?
6. Am I over-estimating how much control I have over how things work out?
7. Am I over estimating the probability / likelihood of harm happening
8. Am I overestimating how awful if would/could be
9. Am I underestimating my ability to cope with the feeling?
10. Am I underestimating what I can do to deal with the problems/situations?
11. Am I confusing a thought with a fact?
12. What is the effect of thinking the way I do?
13. Am I asking questions that have no answers?
14. Would you apply the same thought to others as you do to yourself?
15. Draw a line on the page below the thoughts and consider the evidence for and against the thoughts, as below.
Step 4 – Read back the more helpful perspectives, and consider how these make you feel.
Together, journaling and reframing thoughts can help you develop a more positive and empowering mindset, improve their self-awareness and self-esteem, and cope with stress and adversity more effectively.
These practices are accessible and can be adapted to meet the needs of anyone, regardless of age, background, or experience.
Journaling is a simple and powerful practice that can help improve mental health and wellbeing. It provides a safe space for reflection, exploration, and growth.
Happy Journalling!
Lisa Johnston
CBT & EMDR Therapist
Director My Therapist Online
