Supporting the therapeutic process through reflective journalling can be so powerful, says Rebecca Murray-Gilling...
The process of writing reflectively in a journal can help us to develop self-awareness, practise mindfulness, reduce stress, and serve as a channel for self-expression. It can also help us to first notice, become curious about, and gradually change the way we talk to and view ourselves.
This self-reflective process can be a brilliant support to the personal development work that clients undertake in therapy - or anyone for that matter, whether engaged in therapy or not. Below are some of the ways that journal writing can support the therapeutic process, in a little more detail.
1. Getting your thoughts out of your head and onto paper
Exploring feelings and emotionally heavy experiences for the first time can leave your mind feeling a bit “full”, or even overwhelmed, after or between sessions.
Putting pen to paper and writing down what’s on your mind can feel very therapeutic in that it helps you “dump” your worries, thoughts and questions onto paper, leaving your mind more clear. This can be especially helpful for those experiencing anxiety or stress: you can write and then physically put the journal away, symbolising the process of attending to your feelings, and then detaching and putting them aside.
2. Self-reflection: checking-in with how and what you are feeling after a session
An important piece of self-care is to check-in with yourself after a therapy session. How are you feeling? Taking the time to notice our feelings, in a non-judgemental way, (mindfulness) helps us to become more self-aware, less reactive, and learn how to regulate or self-soothe our emotional state. Some research indicates that the practice of mindfulness can help us to become more emotionally resilient during future setbacks (Linder, 2021).
3. Reflect on the content and process of the session
A lot of ground can be covered in a 50-minute counselling session! Sometimes, we don’t have time to address or explore everything that we might want to, or we might briefly mention something, like a long forgotten memory, that you want to explore further in your own time. Journalling allows the space and time to write down and explore any specific things that caught your attention or expanded your awareness during your session.
4. Giving structure to your therapy process
Establishing a habit of writing in your journal at the same time each day (even just for 10 minutes) can serve as a kind of anchor to ground you across the emotional highs and lows of the therapy process. It can also be a way to write down and remember the breakthroughs and “aha” moments that have made the biggest impact on you in your work, and the new things you are learning about yourself as you go along.
Which leads to the final point…
5. Read it back in the future, and see how far you’ve come
It can be helpful to think of a self-reflective journal like a road map of self-discovery, best understood backwards. Sometimes, it’s only when we get to a certain point in our self-development work that we see how the “dots” connect, and we can appreciate the changes that have taken place.
It can be a great source of comfort and encouragement to dip back into your journal from that time in your life: as a reminder of how far you have come, of your continued ability to care for yourself, and your increased resilience to face new challenges in your life.
Rebecca Murray-Gilling is a counsellor at our Cardiff centre.
