Basic Information More Information Latest News Questions and Answers Blog Entries Making a Work Plan Work for You How to Stop Worrying 3 Ways to Know If You’re Saying Yes Too Much 3 Simple Shifts for a Stress-Free Holiday: A Busy Person's Guide Poetry as Pregnancy: When "The Shrink Rap™ on Mental Illness" Gives Birth Why Are We So Busy? How to Get Out of a Crisis Give Yourself a Break! The Truth About Stress Learn to Manage Your Stress Proactively The Fastest Way to Boost Your Mood Slowing Your Life to Enjoy it More and Get More Done The Key to Overcoming Procrastination Antidote to Busy: 5 Simple Ways to Find Time for You Natural SPEED: Stress Resiliency Shrink Rap™: Safe Stress Survival Strategies 10 Things to Stop Caring About If You Want to Be Happier Using Your "Free" Time to Enrich Your Life Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine? Life is a Struggle - or Is It?? The World of Work - Have We Got It All Wrong? Forms of Escapism Rest in Center Beware of Secondhand Stress Why Worry? Enjoy The Freedom Not To Simple Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday Holiday Coping with ADHD Children Accept Difficulty The Beauty of Saying "No" Maybe It's Time to Come Out of the Closet Late Sociologist Warned About Multitasking's Effect on Wellness Meditation and Anxiety Types of Stress and Their Symptoms Why Do We Dread Sunday: The Power of Anticipation? The Six "R" Road to Burnout Recovery - Part V: The Final "R"s - Relating and Risk-Taking A Generational-Digital Diatribe: Still, Don’t Be Afraid to Pet the Dinosaur (aka “Dinos & Digits”) Feel The Support The Six "R" Road to Burnout Recovery - Part IV: The Next Two "R"s - Retreating & Writing Stress and Anxiety: The Impact the Government Shutdown and The Fiscal Cliff Had on People The Missing Parent Syndrome (MPS): How Psychosocial Loss Impacts Adult Children & Strategies for Building Bridges and Reworking the Grief - Pt I Sports, Fans and Stress Five Ways to See a Problem in a New Light The Six “R” Road to Burnout Recovery – Part III: The First Two Strategic “R”s – Running and Reading Stress, Anxiety and Mindfulness Meditation The Six "R" Road to Burnout Recovery - Part II: The Stress Doc's Strategic Brain-Body Map Can Stress Diminish the Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Be the Boss of Your Smartphone Personal Discovery as Burnout Recovery: An Intimate Story of Hell to Glory - Part I Work, Stress and Health Are You Self-Blaming and Self-Critical? Defining and Defeating Procrastination The Four Stages of Burnout: The Erosive Spiral - Shrink Rap™ Version To Escape the Box, Embrace Paradox Building Stress Resilience and Organizational Hardiness Despite Doing "More with Less" A Cool Shower for Icing a Blame-Thrower Relax, You're Going to be Criticized Of Self-Hatred and Self-Compassion Is the Stress Carrier a Modern Day Vampire? - Part II Safe Stress Tools for Survivin TNT Heaven - Part I What You Should Know About How Stress Shapes the Brain Drop the Load Sleeping, Eating & Gaming, Oh My: The Blood Sugar-Blood Pressure-Out for Blood Triangle One Strategy to Put Your Technology on a Leash It's Not Just Whether You're Stressed - It's Whether You Think You're Stressed 3 Ways to Stop Worry 24/7 SPEED/Resiliency Shrink Rap™:Safe Stress Survival Strategies The Impact of Small Stresses in Daily Life Journaling and Mental Health Can Stress Make You Fat? Stressed at Work? You're Not Alone Of Anxiety and Stress Strengthening Stress Resiliency and Brain Agility with Humor and Natural SPEED Take Back Your Time: How to Reduce Overwhelm in a Few Minutes a Day Booster Breaks at Work: Hit or Bust? Overcoming Stress by Volunteering With Your Dog Boston: Compassion During a Terrorist Attack Anger and Stress, Letting It All Out Your Body Under Stress: DNA, Cells and Aging What is Radical Acceptance Anyway? New Research Shows Chronic Stress Accelerates Alzheimer's Disease The Power of Mindfulness for Teens Depression and Learned Helplessness Take a Dip in Pleasure Come to Center Stress and Shingles, Mind and Body are One Your 14:57 Minute Rule Can Understanding Neuroscience Free Us from Downward Spirals? Is It Possible? Stress and The Older Adult Online Tools for Managing Stress Loneliness, A Health Hazard Stress and Depression, Those Monday Mornings Can Mindfulness Make Us More Productive and Happier? Just Breathe: A Practice to Calm the Anxious Mind Strategies to Keep Work Stress at Bay The Importance of Forgiveness Rescuing and Rejuvenating a Manager at the Bureaucratic Burnout Battlefront Holiday Stress Quiz It's the Holidays! Four Ways to Calm the Stressed Mind Now and Then, Stress Is a Good Thing Obesity, An Addiction? Cultivating Patience in Everyday Life Do Stress Can Kill You Articles Cause You to Worry More? 6 Ways Mindfulness Can Improve Your Daily Life Are Self-Hate and Prejudice Against Others Different? How to be Wise About Fear Practice a Self-Care Diet 5 Signs of Emotional Exhaustion at Work The Brain in Your Gut How to Relax When Faced With School and Work Stress What are the Real Roots of Workplace Stress? Some thoughts About Returning to School and Learning Strangers and The Need For Personal Space Find Stillness Recognize How Precious Your Life Is Human Behavior, My Brain Made Me do It? Stress and the Dangers of Alcohol When Keeping Calm and Carrying On is Not Enough Hugging is Good Medicine Burnout and (Vicarious) Trauma-Inducing Work Environments: Part III Provocation, Anger and Reaction A Mindful Way Through Procrastination Stress on the Rise? Two Simple Practices to Find Relief The Cascade Effect of Emotional Stress On Laughing and Laughter Exercise: Building the "Can Do" Muscle Why Are People in Such a Hurry? On Being Optimistic A 3 Day Plan to Break Free from Irritation Depressed, Forgetful? Take a Walk in the Park Fast Food, Health and Depression Having Trouble Exercising? Cultivate a Mindful Habit Olfactory Sensations (Smell) and Stress Reduction Avoid the Rush The Transitional Objects and Self Comfort Change Your Body, Change Your Mind Stress Reduction, Tropical Fish and Aquariums The Erosive Grief-Ghost Spiral - Part III: Burnout Exposing the Burn-in...Burn-in Exploding the Burnout Some Comments on Belief, Religion and Mutual Respect The Impact of Stress and Anger A Fun and Mindful Way to Transform Your Child's Stress Burn-in, Burnout, and Workplace Griefbusting: Part I A Classic Tip for Stress Reduction at Work Leave the Red Zone How to Use Mindfulness Meditation in your Life The Secret Ingredient to Making Change Stick Put Yourself on Your Priority List Resentment vs.Forgiveness Two Communicational Tools Providing Perspective, Patience and Presence The Pain of Breaking Up, Are You Self-Compassionate? Simple Life Wisdom from Comedian Louis C.K. It's the SAD Season Breaking Bad Habits in the New Year Want a Healthier Life? The Mindful Diet Perception is Everything, Watch Out for Advertising Tricks Economic Difficulty? The Importance of Self-Compassion and Strategy for the Holidays A Radical Way to Bring More Joy into Your Life Why Did this YouTube Video at 3 Million Hits? Step into the Clouds: Relieving Stress Stay in Shape in 5 Minutes a Day Angst in the Face of Economic Meltdown: Managing Your Anxiety When The Stress Won't Go Away! Part II Angst in the Face of Economic Meltdown: Managing Your Anxiety When The Stress Won't Go Away! Part I The Top Seven Sources of Stress and Their Remedies Lower the Pressure Wanting Relief? Find Quiet a Few Minutes a Day Sensory Overload, Tension and Stress New Video: Why Women Get Stressed National Debt, Stress and Perception, Is It Really That Bad? Got IBS? Study Says to Try a Little Mindfulness Is Mindfulness Uniquely Buddhist? Psychotherapy: Clarifying Some Misconceptions The Benefits of Owning a Pet The Frustration of Arguing About the Truth A Manifesto on Curbing the Technology Trap Feeling Overwhelmed? Take a Break The Cycle of Life: War, Peace, Happiness, and... On Superstitions The Frustration of Waiting Drop this Thought in and See What Truth Arises A Simple Yet Important Phrase to Bring into Your Life Have You Tried the Freedom Practice? Parents and Coping and the Terrible Twos Anxiety, Worry, Stress: Living in the Moment Stress, Emotions and Body Response Take My Advice, I'm Not Using It Professional Sports, Stress and Depression Mindfulness in Daily Life I Found That Story Very "Touching" Cortisol: Why You Need to Know About It Recharging Yourself Through Relationships and Giving to Others Newly Married Couples and Sexual Frequency Cash Still Tight Around the Holidays? A 3 Step Solution Managing Holiday Stress: Families + Holidays Do Not Always = Warm and Fuzzy Times Mindfulness, Intuition and the Brain The Art of Pacing - Live Long and Prosper The Pleasure, Beauty and Power of Music Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills that Help Women Survive Stress Mindfulness for Stressed Teens: An Expert Interview With Gina Biegel, MA, LMFT Did You Know? Some Surprising Data about Stress An Expert Interview with Darrin Zeer on Managing Work Stress Where You Need to Look to Change Your Life Make Your Life as Inconvenient as Possible How to Be Sick: A Mindful Guide A Lesson from Psalm 126 New Research: Mindfulness and Adolescent Boys A Bit of Humor that Can Change Your Day How a Flexible Body Makes a Flexible Mind The Mind Traps that Hold Us Back Rewiring Your Brain for the Digital Age: A Good Thing? Software to Help with our Web Addictions? Bad Habits: Do You Have a Choice? The Most Important Way to Start Your Day Is the Storm Outside or In Your Mind? Thx: A 1 Minute Exercise Opening to the Space in Your Life: A Needed Reflection 12 Hours Unplugged: Cravings, Urges, and Insights Oh My! Saturday: The 12 Hour Unplug Challenge What You Need to Know about the Dangers of Meditating for Relaxation Facebook: Research Shows Your Privacy at Risk The Link Between Anger and Stress Neuroplasticity: The Good, Bad and How it Affects You Using Your Brain to Work with Difficult Emotions 3 Practical Steps to Making a Happier Brain How to Find the Wisdom Inside to Mend Your Life Forgot Resolutions Already? 2 Strategies to Get You Back on Track Trauma: A Mindful Dialogue Thoughts are Not Facts: A Story Everyone Should Know How to Slow Down Your Racing Heartbeat When Feeling Anxious What Everyone Should Know About the Dangers Facebook Poses to Your Relationships Elisha Goldstein's Top 10 Blog Posts for 2009 Your Worry or Your Life? Sensory Overload Do You Have the "I am a Fraud" Syndrome? An Interview with Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. on Mindfulness at Work Beyond Thanksgiving: Your Next Stop... How Your Mind Sabotages Your Best Intentions: 3 Steps to Breaking Free Depression? Stress? How Sweet they Are? A Dissertation on Dark Chocolate What is the Key to Less Stress at Work and Life? 4 Steps to Losing the Electronic Leash Keeping You Sane: Do You Need a Day Out? You vs. Procrastination: 1 (Mindful) Secret to Winning the Battle An Evaluation of Self Help Books and Affirmations In a Falling Economy, Trust Your Gut Or Reason? Can Anxiety Be a Good Thing? An Interview with Ilan Meyer, Ph.D, on the Effects of Stress on Minority Mental Health Feeling Stuck? Two Things You Need to Know to Make a Change Elisha Goldstein's Top 10 Mental Help Blog Posts 3 Steps Out of Helplessness 4 Steps to Spiritual Health and Well-Being Do You engage in Emotional Eating? Hope: Our Greatest Antidepressant 5 Factors of Resilience to Engage Today! What About the Good News? The Psychology of Twitter, Mindfulness and Your Mental Health Stress Relief: A Simple Formula Eco-Altruism and Your Mental Health 3 Ways to Stay Up in a Depressed Work Environment Its Enough to Make You Sick, News Coverage of the Swine Flu Life Feel Overwhelming? Lessons From a Dishwasher Tax Day: Overcoming Stress 1 Strategy for Everyday Mental Help Train Your Mind to Tame Your Stress If you lived here… Unhappy Wife = Unhealthy Life? 5 Ways to Achieve Misery How Mindfulness can Help You Walk Away from Stress Today "All Work and No Play Make Jack and Jill Dull...." How this economic recession can pull you into an emotional recession without you even knowing it. 5 key steps that can help Breaking down Martin Luther King's psychology of faith and how it can help you today... Rising teen anxiety! 4 strategies to help your kid today College Stress and Pets: How this new economy can threaten your family without you even knowing it Handling The Stress of the 2008 Holiday Season Tinnitus, The Annoying Sound Inside Your Head "Music Hath Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast" How to take advantage of the holidays and stave off stress, anxiety, and depression Facing Economic Stress: women are taking it harder than men. Itching, Another Example of Mind-Body Interaction How you can be in the flow of life more often and increase your happiness One strategy you’ll want to know to be less stressed and more focused at work and life! What does an Iraqi war veteran have to teach you about stress? The mental help of a smile, what's in it for you? Anger…constructive, destructive, or both? Too smart for our own good? How we perpetuate stress and how to change! Stock market crash, mortgage crisis, rising inflation: What you need to know for stress relief and sanity! Liberal morality versus conservative morality: Understanding the difference can help you avoid arguments When will the next addictive trigger hit you? One practice to make sure you’re ready for it. What do Barack Obama and Sarah Palin have to do with your mental health? How stressed out are you? 2 brain nuggets to help you break free today We've all heard of dental floss, but mental floss to prevent stress, anxiety, and depression? TIME OUT! 2 Things you can practice today to stave off anxiety and depression in this hectic time. Is work stress threatening your sanity? This approach will help you make a change now! The X Factor in Happiness This habitual way of dealing with emotions causes more harm than good; 3 tips to change it now! Coping with the Challenges of Daily Stresses New and Improved Stress Reduction Topic Center Too Muchness: When Life Gets to Feeling Like it's All Too Much Burnout, What It Is and What To Do About It Maintaining Mental Health During the Holidays Stress and Obesity, It's Official: Relaxation is Necessary for Health I Want to Forget Men and Anger and Heart Disease Revisited Meditation: More Benefits Our Fast Paced Lives Why Do You Wash the Dishes? Humor Is A Laughing Matter Dogs, Social Support and Health: A Winning Combination A Primer on Coping (and some Holiday applications) Insufficient Arousal - Activation: From Emptiness to Inertia Videos Links Book Reviews
Journaling and Mental Health Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. Updated: May 24th 2013 Case:
"You have been through a difficult and traumatizing divorce. When all was over, you felt a sense of relief in addition to exhaustion and some depression. Several months have passed and you continue to feel the lingering effects of having been through something very stressful. A friend of yours suggests you write about the experience of the divorce as a way feeling better and putting the episode behind you. You do some investigating and discover that there is solid evidence to support your friends suggestion."
Were you among the many young people who kept a diary when you were growing up? It's probably something that more females did as compared to males. Research shows that it's something all of us can benefit from in our adulthood. Rather than a diary, it's called a journal and writing one in a specific way can have therapeutic benefits and, perhaps, be a way to change one's life story or narrative. Clinical Psychologist, James Pennebaker, University of Texas, is the leading researcher in the area of using journaling for physical and mental health. He has completed many controlled research studies that document the benefits derived from writing on a daily basis. Many other researchers such as Joshua Smyth, PhD and Lauren Smith, PhD, have further documented the benefits of writing.
Pam Hale Trachta, owner of Through a Different Lens, a consulting business, reports that, "When I journal, or when I teach others to, I strive not to be intellectual and logical and articulate, but to feel the wave, the energy behind an event and to summon images of what that wave feels like, acts like, what it's saying to me and what I would say to it." In other words, do not worry about grammar, spelling or sounding literate. Just write.
According to Pennebaker, developing a deeper understanding of an event and the emotions it generates helps the brain digest the information. Pennebaker thinks that when you analyze a traumatic event your brain turns it into a story that's stored more easily. "Storytelling simplifies a complex experience," he says. Turning the memory into a story can be painful at first and both Smyth and Pennebaker report that patients often feel worse when they first begin journaling. It can take weeks or months to notice an improvement.
Here are some suggestions for how to journal:
1. Write for yourself 2. Write about all the emotions associated with the event. 3. Set aside 30 minutes at a regular time for three or four days in a row when you won't be disturbed. 4. Explore how the topic relates to other aspects of your life, such as your childhood and relationships. 5. Write continuously and don't think about spelling or grammar.
Journal writing about traumatic events can be difficult and time consuming and should be done very carefully. Writing about the worst events of your life can dredge up strong emotions and healing doesn't necessarily follow. For example, journaling therapy doesn't seem to work by itself with people who are severely depressed or who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Smyth suggests notifying either your health care professional or someone close to you before you attempt this exercise. Let them judge if it's helping or hurting you.
Also, keep your healing journal private. It's okay to tear up the pages or burn them once you've written about the event. Showing them to anyone who isn't a therapist or health-care professional could make matters worse--it could be very dangerous for a battered woman to show the pages to her spouse, for example.
There are therapists who integrate journaling into their therapeutic practice and this is something you can look for in a therapist if interested. This is certainly something you can do while in therapy to dscuss with your therapist if you are experiencing difficult emotions. Remember, one does not have to be in therapy in order to journal.
Your comments and questions are encouraged.
Allan N. Schwartz, PhD