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Key points
- There are many benefits of journaling and writing for physical and mental health.
- Writing allows release, exploration of new strategies, and experimation with ideas.
- There are no wrong answers in journaling.
Diaries may conjure up visions of middle school girls writing about crushes or anthropologists uncovering new material about a significant historical figure; however, journaling is a tool available and potentially helpful to all. Research on writing started in the 1960s and has uncovered many psychological benefits.
Therapists sometimes give journaling prompts to their clients, especially as writing can be an ideal at-home and in-between-session therapeutic activity, but anyone can access this positive coping tool at any time. Some of its primary benefits can be seen clearly through the use of specific metaphors.
Unzipping an Overstuffed Suitcase
When we repress material, it is stuffed inside into a dark, cramped and unforgiving container. Containers (including bodies and brains) begin to break down when there is no periodic clearance. Like a suitcase bulging with too many items, unzipping and eventual unpacking (or repacking) is a start to changing the relationship with the internal contents. There can be a softening, an exhale, an expansion that can finally occur when there is no longer an often-self-imposed restriction or holding-in expectation.
Downloading
When thoughts and worries build in our mind, we can become overwhelmed and unfocused. Just as writing a grocery or to-do list helps to keep tasks organized, flushing out feelings, thoughts, or ideas by writing helps lessen their influence in our mind. Like downloading photos onto our computer or a thumb drive, letting go of information in our busy brains provides more perspective. The information is not lost but rather no longer needs to be reviewed quite as incessantly; there is a calming and settling that occurs when we make a habit of this type of release.
Imaginary Conversations
The empty-chair "conversation" is a tool that therapists often utilize to help clients process interpersonal conflict. Derived from gestalt therapy, the technique can allow individuals to explore feelings around a disagreement or frustration in an imaginal way rather than continuing to avoid or suppress. Visualizing another person in an empty chair can lead to valuable insights about helpful exchanges and create new perspectives around a situation.
A journal can also be a great place to practice such a conversation with someone or to engage in drafts of an upcoming confrontation; however, sometimes the conversations need to remain imaginary. If the person is no longer available for conversation, if doing so would be unsafe, or if engagement is ikely to be unproductive, the journal can become the empty chair or the entry the unsent letter. This exercise, easy to describe but often hard to do can be amazingly liberating.
Differently Colored Pencils
There are times when writing out a concern, frustration, or conversation can end up being another way to ruminate or stay stuck in unproductive thinking. If there is more rather than less intensity after several sessions of writing, it can signal a need to step outside of one's usual viewpoint of the material.
Instead of repeating past hurts, it may be better to consider more forward-looking lessons learned or write an unsent letter to oneself (rather than continually vent to the person at whom one is angry). Just as using differently colored pencils, paper, or format of writing might provide a new visual, addressing a situation differently can help. The writing is, after all, meant to provide some release or regrouping rather than just rehashing the past.
The Car Wash
Some individuals seem to avoid the notion of writing because they assume that daily diary entries are expected. While some do like documenting life in written snapshots on a very regular basis, doing so is by no means necessary for beneficial effects. Just as someone may wash their car when needed or after a particularly messy driving experience but not daily, people can tune into when they might benefit from a writing experience. Some level of regular self-assessment about the need would be helpful but it is not by any means required. Each person gets to decide what they need and what is most helpful.
Taking an Antibiotic
We may not always understand how or why an antibiotic works against an infection, but we can still feel much relief. Similarly, we may not always know how or why the process of writing is effective, but more consistent use allows increased access to its healing properties. We do know that continual rumination or avoidance builds tension, anxiety, and anguish. Writing can liberate people from some worries and allow experimentation with new ideas. The improvement may not be felt immediately but consistent use does generally lead to some respite of distress.
Final Words
Writing is a low-risk practice. No expertise is needed, just an interest in personal exploration. There are no wrong answers. You just write. Because we all have the write to heal.
