We are fortunate that there are so many therapeutic methods to choose from. One of my favorites is the practice of “therapeutic journal writing”.
Writing things down can mitigate tension as writing about powerful emotions helps release the intensity of these feelings. It also helps clarify our thoughts and feelings and illuminates the issue we may be grappling with. It’s a creative process which gives us an opportunity for possible resolution to a baffling problem. Therapeutic journaling offers us a chance to be “introspective, reflective, and intentional in our writing”.
This modality can be used in treating many conditions such as anxiety, depression, OCD, grief, chronic illness, substance abuse, eating disorders, interpersonal relationship difficulties, and low self-esteem. The following journal exercises can be useful: using photographs, letter writing, listing 100 items that relate to a specific topic, completing open ended sentences.
Therapeutic journaling is a good self-help tool as you can write freely and be authentic without concerning yourself with being “correct”. Keeping a journal is also valuable because we can go back and see the progress that has been made. It is spelled out in black and white. So, just write!
