Why Journaling is Beneficial for Your Mental Health
Learn How Regular Journaling Habits Can Be a Benefit to Your Mental Health
We often give so much power to our thoughts that we start to see them as truths. The anxious worst-case scenario thoughts show up or the negative thoughts that tell you you aren’t good enough creep in from your inner critic.
When it comes to journaling, I tend to have clients that fall into two categories. Either they love it or they hate it.
As cliché as it sounds, journaling is one of the coping skills suggestions I highly recommend as a therapist. In all fairness, there are reasons why I recommend journaling for mental health.
In this blog, I’m sharing with you the benefits of journaling for your mental health.
I am an online anxiety therapist in Wilmington, NC, providing therapy to anxious high achievers in Maryland and North Carolina. I provide anxiety treatment and address other issues such as perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and burnout.
Ready to start therapy with me? Click the button below to reserve your free 15-minute consultation on the date and time of your choice.
Keep reading to learn why journaling is beneficial for your mental health.
How to Journal for Mental Health
One of the biggest questions I get asked when I talk to clients about journaling for anxiety is, how to journal.
The good news is, that there is no proper way to journal.
You can use loose leaf paper, a notebook, or your computer.
Some folks enjoy free writing whatever comes to mind while others prefer having prompts or topics as a guide.
Journaling can be a bulleted list, random scribbles all over the page, or visual art.
The important part is to do whatever feels best for you and that can change from day to day.
What will motivate you to start and keep it going?
Personally, have a love affair with colorful pens and pretty notebooks.
When is the Best Time of Day to Journal for Mental Health?
The second biggest question I get asked when I talk to clients about journaling for anxiety is when to journal.
Again, there is no right or wrong way as to when you should journal, and comes down to personal preference.
I encourage clients to find a time and build it into a routine they already have going to make it a habit.
Here are a few helpful journaling tips:
Find a set time and place. Fewer distractions make it easier.
You can keep a small journal with you or if you carry a planner check to see if there are plenty of blank pages in the back to do some writing.
Journaling in the morning can help to set intentions for the day and keep you focused.
Journaling before bed can help with reflections and help process any stressors before you go to sleep. It can also serve as a way to remind yourself of things for the next day.
What are the Benefits of Journaling?
If you google “benefits of journaling” you will inevitably receive tons of information. Journaling for your mental health is a coping skill that most therapists will suggest as a starting point to help manage and recognize thoughts and feelings you are experiencing.
In no particular order, check out these 7 benefits of journaling listed below:
#1 Benefit of Journaling for Mental Health: You Don’t Have to Censor Yourself
For my people-pleasers, anxious folks, and everyone else, this is this place where you don’t have to censor yourself and you can speak freely.
Have some pent-up frustration and anger? Express yourself here rather than saying the unkind and hurtful thoughts out loud. Use this as a space to get it all out and work through what is happening.
#2 Benefit of Journaling for Mental Health: Way to Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Placing your thoughts on paper and getting them out of your head, can be a big stress relief. When stress is reduced it can lead to a reduction in anxiety.
Learn more about stress and anxiety.
#3 Benefit of Journaling for Mental Health: Helpful with Reflecting
So much happens in everyday life that it can be hard to keep it all together. String in a few days at a time and it can become a jumbled mess.
Journal can be helpful to reflect on the day, a specific event, memory, or feeling you had. When you put these things together it can be helpful to recognize patterns and learn more about yourself.
#4 Benefit of Journaling for Mental Health: Allows for Creativity
Journaling can tap into the creative side of the mind. This part of the brain is different from the analytical side of the brain that we use for a lot of everyday functioning.
Being creative can allow you to tap into processing feelings and expressing yourself you may normally find difficulty doing when you are talking with another person.
#5 Benefit of Journaling for Mental Health: Recognize Thoughts
Sometimes seeing our thoughts in black and white can help to realize your thoughts are simply your thoughts. They are not true or false but words and images your brain has joined together. When you can physically see your thoughts on paper or a computer screen typed out, it can create some emotional distance from them.
#6 Benefit of Journaling for Mental Health: Helpful for Goal Setting
If you write down your goals and routinely track your progress not only is it a good reminder of what you are working towards but it can it be helpful to boost your self-esteem.
Who doesn’t want some of that?
#7 Benefit of Journaling for Mental Health: Improve Sleep
Keeping a notebook by your bed and doing some journaling before bedtime can help to reduce your worries.
Spend some time right down reminders for the next day instead of ruminating on them all night long and worrying you will forget them in the morning.
Begin Anxiety Treatment in Wilmington, NC at Calm Waters Counseling
Negative and anxious thoughts can get you hooked. They can take you away from being the person you want to be and cause distress.
Journaling is a helpful tool to use and provides a lot of benefits for your mental health.
I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for anxiety treatment.
Learn about ACT Therapy and how it can be helpful for you.
Get started in therapy at Calm Waters Counseling by following these 4 simple steps:
Click the button below to schedule your free 15-minute consultation
Complete the brief questionnaire sent to your email before the consultation
Meet with your anxiety therapist
Start living your life with less anxiety
Therapy for High Achievers in Wilmington, NC at Calm Waters Counseling
Learn more about me and my Wilmington, NC online therapy practice.
I love working with anxious go-getter women. I have a good understanding of what my clients encounter.
Here are a few of the areas Calm Waters Counseling also provides services for:
Anxiety Treatment in Wilmington, NC
Treatment for Perfectionism in Maryland
Burnout Counseling in Wilmington, NC
Therapy for Imposter Syndrome in Wilmington, NC
Online Therapy for Anxiety in North Carolina
Online therapy provides benefits and flexibility to busy high achievers. Online therapy is useful for anxiety treatment and even allows for some interventions to take place in a better way than if the client was in the therapy office setting.
Online therapy is effective and can be used with the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy model.
Check out this blog post on using online therapy with ACT therapy.
Click the links below to learn about online therapy where you live:
online therapy for anxiety in North Carolina
online anxiety therapy in Maryland
Still, have questions? Click the buttons below to learn even more.
Written by: Laura Rippeon, LCSW, LCSW-C
Updated 3/17/23