When I first started therapy, I always remember distinctly hating receiving an assignment to journal. Back then, therapists were too vague to me as a child or preteen, making journaling feel out of reach. Many speak about how mental health and mental illnesses are not a one size fits all box. How everyone’s recovery process, and how they deal with their disorders, is unique to them. So why isn’t that thought process applied to when therapist assign clients to journal daily?
When therapists tell someone to journal daily, most people have an outdated view of completing the task. Which is that a journal entry must be a recollection of events from your day. Not realizing that journaling has developed substantially over the years in terms of how one can go about it!
Here are three journal prompts to reflect on your mental health, self-care, or whatever it may be, journey!
“What Did I Learn Today?”
One form of journaling that I took up this past year was asking myself daily, “what did I learn today?” By asking yourself that question, you’ll become more mindful of the tinier moments in your life. Understanding and seeing how/why the tiniest interactions, or a simple compliment, can make a tremendous impact on someone. And realizing how much you learn every day, and the variety of information you’re taking in.
“What Am I Letting Go of Today?” or “What Did I Let Go Of Today?
Another prompt to check in with yourself daily is reflecting on what’s something that you’re letting/going to let go today? When you’re processing trauma or doing self-care maintenance, you’re shedding old behaviors. Yes, like dead skin! As you heal and learn more on your mental health journey, you are obviously going to change. You will not be the same person you were last year, with the same mindset or behaviors. Later, possibly flourishing so quickly, you’re not the same as a week before, or even a few days ago!
“How Much Have I Grown/Developed Since (X Period)?”
Once comfortable with yourself, including the good, bad, and ugly, look back on how far you’ve come! Asking yourself daily, or even weekly, “how far have I come from a (X) to today” can be a daunting challenge. It’s tough to look back on your past objectively when you’re first starting out to heal. During the healing process, you’ll see how even bad or negative experiences are necessary in life too. To not only learn from but also acknowledge and appreciate how far you’ve come from that situation too.
That’s Only The Beginning!
These 3 questions/prompts are just the tip of an extensive iceberg of ways to reinvent journaling. There’s no right or wrong way, and you, yourself may invent the next innovative journaling prompt.
Release whatever outdated notions you believed about journaling and reimagine how journaling can fit into your life!