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Make Journaling a Tool

One of the tools that is encouraged to use in learning to processing emotional pain and in the recovery process is journaling.  Journals can be a great tool for identifying pain events, seeing patterns in destructive behaviors, and tracking progress.  However, people are often unsure on what to write in a journal.  Here are some tips in what to write.

First, it can be beneficial to write about feelings.  One reason this is important is because sometimes a person feels a negative emotion like anger or depression and may not be sure why.  Writing about these emotions can help to expose thoughts and stimulate the memory which can help to identify unprocessed pain events.  Writing about feelings can be very beneficial to the addicts and people who are more accustomed to medicating negative emotions rather than identify them.
Second, a person needs to write about any slips with a destructive behavior.  Journaling about feelings and thoughts before, during, and after the slips can expose patterns about the behavior.  This allows a person to be aware of weak moments that can lead to more slips as well as expose unprocessed pain events.
Third, the journal also needs to include victories.  People who are confronting destructive behaviors or learning how to process pain tend to point out the flaws and failures while neglecting the victories.  Making it a week before a slip when the norm was a day may not seem like much of a victory, but it still counts and can help build self esteem and hope in recovery.
Before starting a journal, one needs to know a couple of warnings.  Never leave it out where anyone can pick it up and read it.  A journal is a safe place to be honest with oneself.  Not being honest in fear of someone seeing what is written defeats the purpose.  Journals need to be in a safe place where people cannot pick it up.  Some people carry it with them in a briefcase or bag.  I tend to lean toward the latter.  
Another warning is to beware of using it like a Facebook status update.  It loses its effectiveness as a tool if it just talks about daily events. (i.e.  Got up, went to work today, talked to a few clients, etc.) Also, it needs to be avoided as a rumination tool where memories are relived to feed self pity.
Finally, it needs to be a daily routine.  This is difficult to do with busy schedules. It becomes easy if it becomes a part of the daily routine.  For example, it is automatically one of the first things some do when starting the day.  Others may find it easier to end the day with journaling.  Some may find it easier on lunch breaks. Regardless, it is necessary to do daily to find behavior and thought patterns.  
People find that journaling helps to slow down thinking and look at emotions and thoughts more objectively.  They also find that journaling becomes a journey of self discovery that leads to practical solutions to life problems.  However, journaling is not the only tool that one needs to do to get well.  Set up an introductory appointment with a local SFT trainer and learn what other tools and skills are available.