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Introduction to Psychology: Reflective Journal Assignment

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Reflective Learning Journals

What is reflective learning.

Our default way of tackling almost anything - assignments, projects, and even life - tends to be more like a checklist. We "tick the boxes" when we've finished a task and move on. How often do we REALLY stop to think, question, or reflect on what we've read or learned, or what we've learned. Mostly we're just glad to be done!

Watch the video below to learn a better approach. The concept of reflection - deciding how to make use of knowledge, information, or experience is a significant part of the learning process.

What is a Reflective Learning Journal?

                            writing

A learning journal is about writing that's done for the purpose of learning.  You are writing to learn. There is no single right way or wrong way to write a reflective learning journal. You simply write down, using your own personal everyday language, what you thought about or what you felt or experienced as you engaged with the reading or other course materials. Reflective writing or reflective practice help you develop the skills to be an independent learner.

  • Reflective Learning Journal Ideas A learning or reflective journal is a steadily growing document that you write to record the progress of your learning. This type of journal is not simply a summary of the course material; it should also include your reactions , your thoughts, your feelings and your questions about what you've learned. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

If You're Stuck....

How to get un-stuck when writing .

thinking

Your instructor explained her expectations in the guidelines she provided to the class, but you may still find yourself stuck when encounter that blank page. Here are some idea that might help you get unstuck:

  • Write as though talking to yourself or a friend. This puts you in touch with your writing voice and helps you express your thoughts which in turn, helps you connect what you're learning to the ideas or experiences meaningful to you.
  • Don't censor what you are thinking ahead of time. Don't judge what you are writing.Something that might seem silly or stupid at first may just be the seed that turns into something strong and focused as you continue to work with it.
  • Don't be afraid to express a negative reaction to something you read. Again, as you work with it, you will begin to understand why you responded the way you did. You may learn something about yourself, you didn't expect to.
  • Start to look for connections in the theories you are reading about to knowledge you have in other areas whether your personal life, other courses, your job or workplace, your family life, relationships etc. Notice patterns that may begin to emerge. This expands your learning and understanding in a real-world context.

Still stuck? Maybe some of the Student Reflection Question listed in the link below willhelp  jump start your thinking.

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How to Write a Journal Entry

Last Updated: February 21, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Nicolette Tura, MA and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Nicolette Tura is an Empowerment Expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a decade of experience creating change in various non-profits then went on to operate her own wellness business for 10 years. Most recently, she worked as a Therapy Associate to a chiropractic neurologist for 15 months working hands-on with patients, helping them heal from neurological disorders like concussions, long covid, migraines, and more. Nicolette guides groups and individuals on transformative meditation journeys and game-changing mindset management workshops and retreats on empowering everyone to keep expanding beyond past conditioning and self-limiting beliefs. Nicolette is a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher with a Psychology & Mindfulness Major, a NASM certified Corrective Exercise Specialist, and an expert in psychophysiology with experience in nervous system regulation and breath work. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master’s degree is Sociology from San Jose State University There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,801,854 times.

Keeping a journal allows you to record what’s happening in your life and to work through your thoughts and feelings. Sometimes, you might write a journal for school to help you deepen your understanding of what you’re studying. Fortunately, writing a journal entry is a simple process. First, choose a topic to write about, like what's happening in your life. Then, write an opening for your entry and express your thoughts.

Choosing a Topic

Step 1 Write about what’s going on in your life.

  • This is a great way to help you document things you want to remember.
  • For instance, you might write about something funny that happened at lunch, scoring the winning goal in a soccer game, or a fight you had with your friend. The events can be positive or negative.

Step 2 Explore your emotions or how you feel about something.

  • Let’s say you’re feeling sad because you’re going through a breakup. You could write about how you feel and what you’ll miss about the relationship. This will help you release your feelings so you can start to feel better .

Step 3 Use a writing prompt if you aren’t sure what to write about.

  • Write about what you’d like to do this weekend.
  • Discuss a place you’d like to visit.
  • Pretend that you found a fantasy creature.
  • Write about something you want to change.
  • Write from the perspective of your favourite book or movie character.

Step 4 Record your reactions to readings and lectures in an academic journal.

  • A summary of a reading or lecture.
  • Your analysis of the course material.
  • Connections between topics you’ve studied.
  • Personal connections you made with the coursework.
  • Questions you have about the text or lecture.

Tip: Keep a journal for school focused on studying and analyzing your course material. For instance, you might summarize your coursework, record your reflections on it, and write down questions you have. Leave out how you feel about what you’re reading or studying.

Opening Your Journal Entry

Step 1 Read your assignment sheet if you’re keeping a journal for school.

  • Your instructor has assigned journaling to help you deepen your understanding of your coursework and to improve your writing skills . Following their instructions will help you best achieve these goals.

Step 2 Write the date at the top of your entry.

  • For instance, you might write, “July 24, 2019,” “07-24-19,” or “24 July 2019.”

Step 3 Include the location and time to provide context for what was happening.

  • For instance, you might write “Good Beans Coffee House,” “School,” “Paris,” or “My bedroom” for your location. For the time, you could write the actual time, such as “12:25 p.m.,” or the time of day, like “Early morning.”

Step 4 Start with an opening like “Dear Diary” or “Dear Self” if you prefer.

Tip: You usually don’t include a salutation when you’re writing a journal for school.

Expressing Yourself in a Personal Journal

Step 1 Don’t worry about grammar and spelling rules.

  • If mistakes really bother you, it’s okay to go back and correct them after you finish writing your journal entry.

Step 2 Be creative in how you write your posts if you like.

  • Turn a memory into a story.
  • Record what you dreamed last night.
  • Write a list, such as what you did that day or what you’re grateful for.
  • Doodle or paste pictures into your journal.
  • Record song lyrics or quotes that mean something to you.
  • Write your own lyrics or a poem.
  • Write in stream of consciousness.

Step 3 Use “I” to write your journal in the first person.

  • For instance, you’d write, “I went to lunch with Sari today,” not “Amy had lunch with Sari today.”

Step 4 Incorporate details that appeal to your 5 senses to make your post vivid.

  • For instance, let’s say you’re on vacation at the beach. You might include details like, “sea spray hitting my face,” “the smell of burning wood from bonfires on the beach,” “the taste of salt on my lips,” “the sun glinting off the surface of the water,” and “the shouts from other beach goers having fun.”

Step 5 Don’t worry about the length of your journal entries.

  • With journaling, it’s more important to write often than to write a lot.

Drafting an Academic Journal Entry

Step 1 Organize your thoughts to make them coherent.

  • If you’re telling a story, try to follow a narrative structure to give it a beginning, middle, and end.
  • Read over your journal entry before your submit it to check that it makes sense.

Step 2 Make sure you reach the required word count.

  • For handwritten journals, your instructor may require that you simply fill up a page. Make sure you know the exact requirements so you can do your assignment correctly.
  • If you’re struggling to think of something to write, make a mind map about the topic to help you brainstorm some new ideas.

Step 3 Use proper grammar like you would in an essay.

  • If you’re struggling with your grammar, visit your school’s writing center or ask your instructor about tutoring options. Additionally, you can find online programs that help you with grammar.

Step 4 Proofread your journal entry and correct any mistakes.

  • This is especially important if you’re keeping your journal as a graded assignment.
  • If you’re typing your journal entries in an online portal, there may be a spellcheck tool you can use. However, you should still proofread the entry to look for other errors.

Journal Entry Template

how to write a journal entry for psychology

Community Q&A

Community Answer

  • It’s best to write regularly so that journaling becomes a habit. To help you remember, write in your journal at the same time everyday. [19] X Research source Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 3
  • You can write about anything you want, so don’t feel like you can only write about how you feel. You might instead prefer to write about your daily accomplishments or what you enjoyed that day. Thanks Helpful 23 Not Helpful 3
  • While you can use a paper journal, there are journaling apps and websites you can try. Additionally, it’s okay to use a word processor like Google Docs or Microsoft Word for journaling. Thanks Helpful 15 Not Helpful 7

how to write a journal entry for psychology

  • Since your journal is private, prevent people from reading it by keeping it in a safe place. If it’s a digital journal, you might even password protect it. Thanks Helpful 25 Not Helpful 3

You Might Also Like

Hide Your Diary

  • ↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/title
  • ↑ Nicolette Tura, MA. Empowerment Expert. Expert Interview. 23 January 2020.
  • ↑ https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-journaling/
  • ↑ https://www.readingrockets.org/article/journal-writing
  • ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/journal-writing
  • ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/writing-an-abstract-for-your-research-paper/
  • ↑ https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide/reflective-journals-and-learning-logs.shtml
  • ↑ https://psychcentral.com/blog/ready-set-journal-64-journaling-prompts-for-self-discovery
  • ↑ https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-health-benefits-of-journaling
  • ↑ https://www.bates.edu/biology/files/2010/06/How-to-Write-Guide-v10-2014.pdf
  • ↑ https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1081806.pdf
  • ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/style/connectingideas/
  • ↑ https://positivepsychology.com/writing-therapy/
  • ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/capitalization
  • ↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/proofreading
  • ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-minds/202301/10-good-reasons-to-keep-a-journal

About This Article

Nicolette Tura, MA

To write a journal entry, first find a quiet, comfortable spot where you won’t be disturbed. Take a moment to brainstorm what you want to write about. You can journal about anything, like your day, your dreams, work, school, friends, or an upcoming project. If you’re not sure, choose a writing prompt for your entry, like “What was your earliest childhood memory?” or “What is your biggest secret?” Open to a new page in your journal and write the date at the top. Then, start writing. Let your thoughts flow and don’t edit yourself. Write whatever comes to mind. It’s okay to be honest since nobody else will be reading what you write. Draw pictures if specific images come to mind while you’re writing. Try to journal for somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes every day. The more you journal, the easier it will become! Keep reading to learn how to write a journal entry for school! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to start journaling for mental health.

Discover how to get started with journaling for improved mental health and wellbeing...

how to write a journal entry for psychology

Journaling has exploded in popularity, and little wonder – it’s a great way to gain insight to your problems, connect with yourself, and it can be a lot of fun, too. Rachel Garnet discovers how to get started with journaling for your mental health…

Looking for a wellness journal? Check out the Psychologies ‘Balance Your Life’ Wellness Journal (£14.99), which is filled with a range of thought-provoking prompts, motivational quotes and lots more. Click here for a sneak peak inside!

how to write a journal entry for psychology

Since I started journaling a few months ago, it’s become one of the most helpful and insightful things I do for my mental health and wellbeing. Yet, for a long time, when friends talked about their ‘journals’, I dismissed the practice as the same as diary-keeping – to be restricted to teenagers wanting to detail their days away from prying parental eyes, or for reminders, such as ‘give cat worm pill’.

Away in far-flung places, I never wrote a word – why recount experiences when I was living them? How wrong I was. Diaries may fundamentally be logbooks, but journals are your words about who you are.

My mind was changed by a work event. There, I met a woman who had impressed me with her self-belief and confidence. She amazed me by saying that when her insecurities arise, she journals, and that by leaving them on the page she frees herself from them.

Getting started with journaling

I was sceptical, but heeding her encouragement and wanting her tenacity, I bought a cheap book full of blank pages, with a pretty gold and pink cover; there are no printed dates in a journal, so none of the guilt of chronicle – free days.

At first, I was unsure how to start journaling. I wrote how I worried that my presentation and perceptions at a meeting would not be well received. The words poured out. It felt weird, even furtive.  I hid my journal among other books on my bedside table.

But days later, as I felt worries bubbling up again, I journalled that I felt like a balloon about to pop, still stuck years on with a lack of self-worth. Letting rip on the page became a self a regular thing. Already, I credit it with feeling less self-critical which, for me, is like a 10-tonne weight lifting.

how to write a journal entry for psychology

Why is journaling good for your mental health?

Jackee Holder, leadership coach and author of 49 Ways To Write Yourself Well (Step Beach Press, £12.99), says: ‘A traditional diary is factual, it doesn’t externalise your inner dialogue, but a journal does. Journaling is the opportunity to express your inner thoughts and emotions, your creativity and your vibrancy.’

No wonder then, that journaling is powerful for our mental, physical and future health; recording experiences now can be a vital tool for memory as we age.

Research, carried out by universities from Lancaster to Arizona, shows that journaling can help maintain heart health, increase immunity and reduce stress. It is a detox for the brain and soul; writing down thoughts imposes structure on them and literally gets them out of our heads.

When you’re first learning how to start a journal, decide where and how you want to write. I journal in my bedroom in the evening, but Holder points out: ‘You may feel safer when you write in a public place…Noisy spaces are a good way to distract your inner critic, who will do all it can to convince you not to journal. If it’s not practical to designate a fixed place, make your journal as portable as possible.’

A friend who is dealing with intense issues, but also has four kids and a full-time job, journals on her phone on the bus home from work. Holder puts the case for a regular journalling pattern, be it every three days or whatever works for you.

Find a time when you are not distracted, and try to allocate at least 10 to 15 minutes for each session. ‘It will give you enough time and space to express yourself and dip beneath the surface,’ says Holder.

How to start a journal: 4 writing prompts

A word or an essay? It can be hard to know what to write when learning how to start journaling. ‘One of the most common reasons people give for not keeping a journal is that they don’t know what to write,’ says Holder.

She advocates writing prompts as ‘a way to access topics if you are worried about having a blank mind when you first learn how to start a journal’. Writing prompts could include:

  • What you are thinking now
  • A concern you have
  • The view from your window
  • The best job you ever had

One of my journal entries is a single swearword; it summed up how I felt at the time. As my journal filled, I began to feel release. Holder understands this: ‘I had a relationship break-up two years ago and my journal never left my side,’ she says. ‘It kept me afloat and helped me regain my buoyancy.’

One of the key things to remember when learning how to start journaling is that you should go back and reflect. I realised this by accident, when my self-critical voice was loud, and it triggered a memory I had written about.

Aged 23, I’d been in hospital. The outcome of tests could have been life-changing. I was frightened, so told an older relative who was highly significant in my life. Her reply was: ‘Well, how do you think I feel?’ She was someone who would generally prioritise her own feelings.

At the time, I berated myself for telling her and also for being hurt by her reaction. Now, I felt how deep her own issues must have been for her to say that.

how to start journaling a journal

Learning from your journal

What my journal pointed out to me then, as often happens now, was that my self-criticism is unwarranted. Instead, self-compassion is needed. Holder told me that as a younger woman, she would write most when feeling bad, and I was definitely doing this for a while.

‘The challenge with this,’ explains Holder, ‘is that although what comes through from your journal can be very insightful, unless you go back and highlight this, you just continue going around in the same cycle, as the lesson hasn’t been internalised.’

Now, since learning how to start journaling, I use a highlighter pen to show when I have those informative moments. It wasn’t until weeks after writing down a lovely compliment a mum from my youngest child’s school had paid me, that I allowed myself to take it on board.

Often, I’ll smother kind words with my inner critic. My journal is shrewd, inexpensive therapy, but Holder has opened my eyes to how it can become much more than that: a place of inspiration, a friend and companion for life.

How to start ‘free flow’ journaling

Holder has liberated me to what she calls ‘free flow’ journaling. This is where you journal exactly what comes into your mind at the time of writing. I had been concentrating and constraining my journaling into what I wanted to explore about myself. Free flow enables your journal to become the exciting place it will end up being.

By writing more when I feel good, it’s also becoming vibrant. Now, I write about anything I want to, from my son saying I was the best ‘squidgy piglet’ to the old lady at the supermarket checkout, who was so thrilled when I told her I loved her dress, that she made my day.

Here is a slightly edited (never let others read your journal; it’s for your eyes only) example of two entries, one written three days after the other in my journal, which show the diversity of journal reflection. ‘Anna and I both wore the same leopard-print skirt. We are becoming Coleen Nolan.’ ‘I feel detached, it’s that nagging voice again, that I am not good enough.’

how to start journaling a journal

Journaling on-the-go

I keep my journal at home in the same place; always knowing where it is adds to its therapeutic feel. However, I have shopping receipts and envelopes inserted into it, with my open and honest thoughts that needed to be jotted down when I’ve been out and about.

Recently, I’ve begun to add some photos and pictures which have resonated with me, too. New aspects of journaling continue to open up. Holder discovered how her journal could help her see future ideas or thoughts when she began writing about her feelings towards being in midlife, triggered by a fellow passenger on a London train journey.

Since learning how to start journaling, I’ve become braver. It’s incredible what happens when you give rise to your inner dialogue. Reviewing mine, I see countless little entries about South America, such as wistfully thinking what I’d eat as a vegetarian in Brazil.

I have always wanted to spend time in South America, but my journal has highlighted how strong this desire is. So, I am starting an evening course to learn Spanish. When my children are adults, my husband and I aim to be the oldest backpackers in South America. One thing’s for sure, my journal will be coming with me.

Jackee Holder’s book 49 Ways to Write Yourself Well (Step Beach Press, £12.99) is out now.

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Therapeutic Journaling: An Introduction & Guide to Writing for Your Mental Health

If you're feeling stressed, anxious, or down, try therapeutic journaling. While it’s not a total replacement for therapy, it is one tool that can help you to create meaning and feel better, or serve as a helpful addition to traditional talking therapies.

Here's what to know about therapeutic journaling, plus guidelines and suggestions for keeping a therapeutic journal of your own!

Therapeutic journaling is a deep-dive into internal thoughts and experiences, in order to gain new self-perspective

Therapeutic journaling is the process of writing down our thoughts, emotions and experiences.

It differs from the process of recording daily events in a diary, which many of us are probably familiar with. Therapeutic journaling is about delving a little deeper; writing in a way that helps us to make sense of our internal experiences, learn, and gain new perspectives on our challenges.

Writing about our thoughts and emotions enables us to express them in a way that can help work through difficulties and move forward.

how to write a journal entry for psychology

How to keep a therapeutic journal

There is no right or wrong way to keep a therapeutic journal. However, the following tips might help you to get started:

Create a routine of your journaling habits

Many people begin journaling with the best intentions, but find that the habit is difficult to establish. Scheduling time in advance is one way to enhance your commitment to journaling.

For example, you might schedule that every day between 5 and 5:15 p.m., you’ll write your journal entry.

Find somewhere quiet to write

Find somewhere quiet to sit and write, where you won’t be disturbed by other people or alerts on your phone.

Decide on the topic you want to explore

Consider writing about any events that have brought up difficult emotions for you, such as sadness, anxiety, anger, shame or guilt.

(Please note that if the emotions are strong and you find it difficult to cope with them, it’s best to stop writing and seek help from a therapist.)

Start writing!

You might spend 15 or 20 minutes exploring your thoughts and feelings about your difficult experience.

That said, there aren’t limitations to what you write about, and many people find that the flow of writing leads them onto quite different thoughts and ideas. That's okay!

Let your ideas flow, without worrying too much about spelling or grammar.

Try to write every day for two weeks (or however long it takes you to form new habits), even if it’s only just for a few minutes.

Sample prompts for a therapeutic journal

A prompt for your journaling may help get your creative and healing juices flowing. Here are just a few to consider when starting out:

  • What are your five favorite qualities about yourself?
  • Write a letter to someone who has had a positive impact on your life.
  • List out three of the best compliments you've ever received.
  • Write down five positive things you'd like to remember the next time you're in a bad mood or spot.
  • List 10 things that make you smile, no matter what.
  • Write a letter of forgiveness to someone in your life who has caused you pain.
  • Write a letter of forgiveness to yourself for past actions you're not proud of.  

How therapeutic journaling can help mental health conditions

Journaling can help people who are experiencing symptoms of common mental health challenges such as:

  • Life transitions

It can also be a tool used to complement progress in talking therapies.

Additionally, researchers have found that therapeutic journaling can help people who are experiencing physical health problems such as chronic illnesses (1, 2).

However, if you have experienced trauma , journaling should be approached cautiously. It can create more distress if not undertaken with the help of a mental health professional. If you would like to journal, it’s best to discuss in therapy first.

Benefits of therapeutic journaling

Therapeutic journaling can help improve physical and psychological wellbeing in various ways, by:

  • Keeping a record of ideas and concepts, or things you learn in therapy
  • Tracking your progress
  • Helping to make sense of thoughts and experiences, and organizing them in a meaningful way
  • Helping you to recognize patterns in thoughts, feelings or behavior
  • Providing an opportunity for self-reflection
  • Providing an opportunity to consider experiences from alternative perspectives or practice helpful thoughts
  • Helping to boost the immune system (1)

How therapeutic journaling works

It’s likely that therapeutic journaling can help people in various ways. A recent study found that therapeutic journaling can help to improve psychological wellbeing by:

  • Reducing intrusive thoughts
  • Decreasing the avoidance of negative thoughts
  • Improving working memory

By doing this, it is thought people become able to deal with stress more effectively (3).

Therapy types to consider combining with therapeutic journaling

To maximize the effectiveness of therapy, try journaling as a complementary tool to just about any therapy type , including:

  • Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
  • Mindfulness Practices
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Psychodynamic Therapy
  • Motivational Interviewing
  • Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT)
  • Holistic Therapy

Keeping a therapeutic journal can help you tap into deep-set emotions, and manage your mental health.

Whether you keep at it consistently, or save it for occasional use as part of your self-care arsenal, it's a great way to strengthen your mindfulness and self-reflection abilities.

Sources and references:

  • https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00403.x
  • https://www.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/338full.pdf
  • https://www.apa.org/monitor/sep01/keepdiary
  • http://projects.hsl.wisc.edu/SERVICE/modules/12/M12_CT_TherapeuticJournaling.pdf

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Writing For Therapy: What to Know About Therapeutic Journaling

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Journaling is one self-care method counselors can recommend to their clients. Clients can use this tool on their own and incorporate these entries into a therapy session.

Counselors refer to journaling in therapy as writing therapy, journal therapy or expressive art therapy.

Clients can write in a paper journal, type into a phone, an online entry or a word document. It doesn’t matter where the writing is taking place, as long as the client takes the time to explore their inner thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Journaling allows clients to observe themselves; write about the future, past, and present; express what happened and how they felt; and share their goals, hopes, and dreams.

Is Journal Writing Right for Every Client?

When you consider expressive writing exercises for your clients, note their diagnosis. Writing is a tool that works well with those who are emotionally expressive but is not recommended for those who have difficulty understanding, describing, or expressing emotions. According to Niles et al. (2013): 

“Expressive writing produced anxiety improvement in participants relatively high on emotional expressiveness, whereas participants low on expressiveness showed increases in anxiety following expressive writing. The control group evidenced no change in anxiety regardless of emotional expressiveness. These findings suggest that for people who already tend to manage emotions through expression, expressive writing may be particularly beneficial in reducing anxiety.”  

There is no right or wrong way to express oneself and some clients may associate writing with English or grammar class—a place where they once were critiqued and felt judged. Counselors can remind clients that journaling in therapy is used for self-expression. Therapeutic writing is not about writing quality; it is about the process of getting the thoughts and feelings in your head onto the page. 

Other clients may not resonate with the written word. They may feel more comfortable talking than writing. This is why it is important to discuss with your client about any new technique or treatment you bring into the session room and honor their preferences and comfort level.

Bringing the Journal into a Therapy Session

When clients bring their journal writing into a therapeutic session, they can give highlights of what they have written, a synopsis, or the entire entry. Each time your client comes to a session to share their written words, tell them how much you appreciate it. It is an honor to witness a person’s deepest inner thoughts. Remind your client how much courage it takes to connect to the deepest part of themselves and trust to share this piece with you.

Used over time, journal writing shows clients how their relationships affect them, their responses to others, and how they may be giving their power away. The significance is not about the events written about but more about the meaning made out of these events. The therapeutic work involves how the client relates to these events or people. Listen for their interpretation and perception. In counseling, you can use cognitive therapy with faulty thinking, generate options for future responses, teach assertiveness skills and encourage self-care methods, including setting boundaries.

When a client uses journaling as a part of therapy, the counselor needs to assess the effectiveness of this type of treatment. Are the client’s symptoms improving or are the client’s symptoms worsening through this method? Periodic assessments will be needed to determine effectiveness and symptom management. If the client’s mental health decompensates, the counselor will need to consider other treatment methods.

Types of Therapeutic Writing to Explore

Writing About Therapy – Clients can write about their responses to their last therapy session. In their journal, they can record what they would like to discuss in the next therapy session, how they feel about the process of therapy, and even their impressions of their therapist. 

These types of insights can enrich the current work you do with your clients. When you hear negative feedback, listen and acknowledge the client’s experience.

Letter Writing – A journal can be used to write letters. These letters can process relational conflicts or heal unfinished business between the client and a deceased loved one. Letters that are written for those who are living are not meant to be sent. Rather, these exercises are used to release repressed emotions. 

Another method of letter writing can be through a dialogue in which one letter is written to a person and then the client answers the letter as if they were that person.

Daily Entries – Writing is not only creative but also therapeutic. Journaling can be cathartic by releasing pent-up feelings such as anger, depression, fear, guilt, jealousy, regret, resentment, sadness, shock, and yearning. Clients can record their symptoms in between sessions. The pages of the journal act as a container for these powerful emotions and help clients relieve and manage stress.

Free Writing – In an entry, encourage your clients to write whatever comes to their minds without censoring it. This type of free association can be expressed through bullet points, short sentences, or complete paragraphs.

Prompts – Clients who are not as comfortable writing may prefer a prompted method to elicit responses. Journals can be purchased or the counselor can design fill-in-the-blanks or a question format for clients to complete.

Mixed Arts Journal – Journaling can include drawings, pictures, and words. Some clients may feel more comfortable drawing a feeling or using pictures rather than writing a story or using words. Others may enjoy drawing shapes with words or phrases inside.

Dream Journals – Some clients find dream interpretation insightful to their growth. The client can be instructed to write down the dream content, feelings associated with the dream and upon awakening. 

In session, the dreams can be discussed for symbolism and interpretation. It can also be helpful to notice any recurring themes or patterns. Some theories for dream analysis are Jungian or Freudian (psychoanalysis).

Poetry and Other Writings – Clients may find they can express themselves through writing a poem or a short story. The National Association of Poetry Therapy (2022) describes poetry therapy as: 

“…the use of language, symbol, and story in therapeutic, educational, growth, and community-building capacities. It relies upon the use of poems, stories, song lyrics, imagery, and metaphor to facilitate personal growth, healing, and greater self-awareness. Bibliotherapy, narrative, journal writing, metaphor, storytelling, and ritual are all within the realm of poetry therapy.”

The Benefits of Writing for Therapeutic Clients

Increases self-awareness – The practice of writing encourages clients to slow down and pay attention to what is going on in their inner life. As they connect within the forgotten parts of themselves, they discover healing and hope. By acknowledging the emotional hurts, clients decrease anxiety and depression. This inner reflection allows clients to learn to respond rather than react to their impulses and emotions. For trauma clients, it can be helpful to track symptoms and triggers.

As a client maintains a journal, they can look at previous entries and notice certain patterns in their life. These may appear as ongoing issues or conflicts, which can be addressed in therapy and your client may find his or her own solution for their long-standing problem. 

Beaumont (2019) states: 

“Reflective practice and expressive writing requires and fosters awareness and observation skills. Through writing, those mindfulness skills create what I would call, a ‘readiness for possibility.’ As does expression through images, expressive writing involves a process of readying ourselves to see, to be receptive to what we are experiencing and becoming. It is true that writing requires a creative leap, but in trusting the process, we discover and create our most authentic selves”.  

Serves as positive reinforcement – A client can utilize a journal to write about all they have accomplished in a day. For a client with depression, this can be the act of getting dressed, taking a shower, or eating three meals a day. 

Clients can also focus on what they have in their life by listing what they are grateful for. This can include a list of supportive people and other areas they enjoy health in. 

Lastly, a journal can increase self-esteem, when a client notes their positive attributes. It can be helpful to direct your client to review these lists when they are having a tough day. This act helps clients to acknowledge themselves.

Helps with processing grief – Journaling helps process complicated feelings that accompany the loss of a loved one. In the beginning stages of grief, it is exhausting and requires a lot of energy. Clients can write down ways to set boundaries and institute self-care. In the middle stages, clients may want to write more about their loved ones and think about how they want to memorialize them. 

Later on, clients can focus on the meaning they make out of this loss. Writing can increase their newfound self-awareness, process feelings, and create a new reality. Some clients who grieve may want to keep their journal private to ensure they have a safe place to vent about the specific difficulties they face. As the counselor, it is important to respect how much the client wishes to share in session.

Increases client self-reliance – Some clients develop a dependency upon the counselor. In the beginning of counseling, clients learn what are healthy behaviors and responses. It is the counselor’s job to encourage the client to also look to their own higher wisdom. When a client learns to listen within, it decreases the tendency to look toward the counselor for all of the answers. Clients can learn to trust themselves and their decisions.

Lisa Hutchison, LMHC

Lisa Hutchison, LMHC

Lisa Hutchison , LMHC, is a licensed mental health counselor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She works for professionals who want to treat and prevent compassion fatigue. With over 20 years of psychotherapy experience, she helps her clients assert themselves, set boundaries, and increase their coping skills. Her specialty is decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression while increasing realistic methods of self-care for those who help others. Ms. Hutchison’s psychological advice has been featured in Reader’s Digest and the Huffington Post . Her articles have been published in numerous magazines, including Grief Digest and Today’s Caregiver .

Lisa is the bestselling author of I Fill My Cup: A Journal for Compassionate Helpers and a faculty member writer for NetCE. Her latest continuing education unit publication is “Setting Ethical Limits for Caring and Competent Professionals.” She has taught creative writing in colleges and presented on boundaries for the compassionate helper; the use of expressive art to heal grief, anxiety, and depression; inspirational and motivational topics; and creative writing techniques.

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How journaling can help you in hard times, stressed and isolated try expressing your thoughts and feelings in writing..

On April 1, I had been quarantining in my downtown apartment for two weeks, and it was starting to become clear that this coronavirus thing wasn’t going away anytime soon.

As I often do in tough times, I turned to journaling. I decided I’d keep a record of my quarantine life through the month of April, a way to remember this crazy historical moment and process my feelings.

Now it’s August, and my daily journal continues. I’ve left my building about two dozen times since I started journaling, so its contents aren’t all that exciting—tidbits of everyday life, news about social distancing rules and reopening stages, moments of worry and loneliness and cabin fever and gratitude.

how to write a journal entry for psychology

I know I’m not the only one with a pandemic journal. In fact, hundreds of people have written journal entries on the Pandemic Project website , a resource created by psychology researchers that offers writing prompts to help people explore their experiences and emotions around COVID-19.

At a time when the days blend into each other, journaling is helping people separate one from the next and clear out the distressing thoughts invading our heads (and our dreams ). Research also suggests it might be helping our health and immune systems, the very things many of us are worried about.

Although there are some pitfalls to journaling—ways of doing it that might backfire—it’s one of those rare and valuable mental health tools that doesn’t require you to leave your house or even see another human being.

The power of opening up

People had been keeping diaries long before scientists thought to put them under microscopes. But in the past 30 years, hundreds of studies have uncovered the benefits of putting pen to paper with your deepest thoughts and feelings.

According to that research, journaling may help ease our distress when we’re struggling. In a 2006 study , nearly 100 young adults were asked to spend 15 minutes journaling or drawing about a stressful event, or writing about their plans for the day, twice during one week. The people who journaled saw the biggest reduction in symptoms like depression, anxiety, and hostility, particularly if they were very distressed to begin with. This was true even though 80 percent had seldom journaled about their feelings and only 61 percent were comfortable doing so.

Why do we avoid journaling?

For one, it isn’t always pleasant; I know that I sometimes have to force myself to sit down and do it. Cathartic is probably a better word. In fact, some research suggests that we can feel more anxious , sad, or guilty right after we write.

But in the long term, we can expect to cultivate a greater sense of meaning as well as better health. Various studies have found that people who do a bout of journaling have fewer doctor visits in the following half year, and reduced symptoms of chronic disease like asthma and arthritis.

Can your diary keep you healthy?

Other research finds that writing specifically boosts our immune system, good news when the source of so much stress today is an infectious virus.

One older study even found that journaling could make vaccines more effective. In the experiment, some medical students wrote for four days in a row about their thoughts and feelings around some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, from divorce to grief to abuse, while others simply wrote down their daily events and plans. Then, everyone received the hepatitis B vaccine and two booster shots.

According to blood tests, the group who journaled about upsetting experiences had higher antibodies right before the last dose and two months later. While the other group had a perfectly healthy response to the vaccine, the authors write, journaling could make an important difference for people who are immune-compromised or for vaccines that don’t stimulate the immune system as well. 

“Expression of emotions concerning stressful or traumatic events can produce measurable effects on human immune responses,” write the University of Auckland’s Keith J. Petrie and his colleagues.

Greater Good’s Guide to Well-Being During Coronavirus

Greater Good’s Guide to Well-Being During Coronavirus

Practices, resources, and articles for individuals, parents, and educators facing COVID-19

Journaling could also boost our immune system once we’ve been infected with a virus. In another study , researchers recruited undergraduate students who tested positive for the virus that causes mononucleosis, which persists in the body after infection and has the potential to flare up. Three times weekly for 20 minutes, some wrote about a stressful event—like a breakup or a death—while others wrote about their possessions.

Based on blood samples taken before and after, writing about stress increased people’s antibodies—an indication that the immune system has more control over the latent virus in the body—compared to more mundane writing. It also seemed to help them gain a deeper understanding of their stress and see more positives to it.

Why journaling works

What’s the secret to the humble diary? It turns out journaling works on two different levels, having to do with both our feelings and our thoughts.

First, it’s a way of disclosing emotions rather than stuffing them down, which is known to be harmful for our health. So many of us have secret pain or shame that we haven’t shared with others, swarming around our brains in images and emotions. Through writing, our pain gets translated into black-and-white words that exist outside of ourselves. 

“I’m able to organize thoughts and feelings on paper so they no longer take up room in my head,” says Allison Quatrini, an assistant professor at Eckerd College who has been journaling for years and started a COVID-19 journal in April. “If I get them out on the page and clear the mental decks, it sets up the rest of the day to not only be more productive but be more relaxed.”

On the thinking level, writing forces us to organize our experiences into a sequence, giving us a chance to examine cause and effect and form a coherent story. Through this process, we can also gain some distance from our experiences and begin to understand them in new ways, stumbling upon insights about ourselves and the world. While trauma can upset our beliefs about how life works, processing trauma through writing seems to give us a sense of control.

“Journaling is a tool to put our experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and desires into language, and in doing so it helps us understand and grow and make sense of them,” says Joshua Smyth, a distinguished professor of biobehavioral health and medicine at Penn State University, who coauthored the book Opening Up by Writing It Down with pioneering journaling researcher James Pennebaker.

How to start a journaling practice

While you can journal in many different ways, one of the most well-studied techniques is called Expressive Writing . To do this, you write continuously for 20 minutes about your deepest thoughts and emotions around an issue in your life. You can explore how it has affected you, or how it relates to your childhood or your parents, your relationships or your career.

Expressive Writing is traditionally done four days in a row, but there isn’t anything magical about this formula. Studies suggest you can journal a few days in a row, a couple times a week, or just once a week; you can write for 10 or 15 or 20 minutes; and you can keep journaling about the same topic or switch to different ones each time.

Expressive Writing

Expressive Writing

A simple, effective way to work through an emotional challenge

For example, the Pandemic Project offers several prompts to inspire your writing. You can write a basic entry about your general thoughts and feelings around COVID-19, or dig into more specific topics like the following:

  • Social life: How is your social world changing, how does that make you feel, and how are you handling it?
  • Work and money: How do you feel about your financial situation, and how has your job changed?
  • Uncertainty: Where is your anxiety and sense of uncertainty coming from, and how can you cope with it?

“Many people often start writing about COVID-19 and then begin writing about other topics that are bothering them more than they thought,” notes the Pandemic Project website, which was created by Pennebaker and his research team. “This is what expressive writing is good for. Use it to try to understand those problems that are getting under your skin.”

In my journal, I’ve found myself exploring the issue of control . My constant instinct is to organize and plan out life, but that’s been impossible in the midst of a massive, unpredictable crisis. Journaling also let me ponder the lessons I want to take away from this experience around flexibility, acceptance, and letting go.

The do’s and don’ts of a diary

A 2002 study does suggest that journalers should beware of rehashing the same difficult feelings over and over in writing.

In the experiment, over 120 college students journaled about a stressful or traumatic event they were experiencing, like troubles at school, conflicts with their partner, or a death in the family. They were instructed to write for at least 10 minutes, twice a week, over the course of a month. Some students wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings—including how they try to make sense of the stress and what they tell themselves to cope with it—while others wrote about their feelings only.

During the month, the group who wrote about feelings and thoughts experienced more growth from the trauma: better relationships with others and a greater sense of strength, appreciation for life, and new possibilities for the future. They seemed to be more aware of the silver linings of the experience, while the group who focused on emotions expressed more negative emotions over time and even got sick more often that month.

The point here is that the most effective journaling moves from emotions to thoughts over time. We start expressing our feelings, allowing ourselves to name them; after all, jumping to thoughts too quickly could mean we’re over-analyzing or avoiding. But eventually, we do start to make observations, notice patterns, or set goals for the future.

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This has been the case for Allison Quatrini, who usually writes for a half hour in the morning about whatever’s going through her mind—from the losses she’s experiencing during the pandemic to her work or romantic relationship. It allows her to put into words how much her life has been disrupted, normalize the range of emotions she’s been feeling, and brainstorm ways forward.

“It helps me make sense of the way that I’m feeling right now,” she says. “Why do I feel not very motivated, why do I feel bored, why do I feel sad? It’s also useful in admitting to myself what is going on [and] why it’s been very challenging to deal with this.”

In addition to writing, you might also consider adding drawings to your journal. In a 2003 study , people either journaled, made drawings, or journaled and drew about a negative experience from the past that still upset them, like relationship troubles or loss. According to surveys before and after, the group who wrote and drew saw the biggest improvements in their mood after three weekly, 20-minute sessions. Drawing without writing actually made people’s moods worse, though. The researchers speculate it may have dredged up difficult feelings without offering a way to process them.

If writing is challenging, speaking your feelings aloud may work just as well. In that mono study, there was another group of students who recorded themselves talking about their stress. This group ended up showing the strongest immune responses to the dormant virus in their bodies. They also seemed to be doing the best psychologically, gaining insight and a positive perspective on their stress, improving in self-esteem, and engaging in healthier coping strategies. The researchers suspect that talking—even to a voice recorder—may feel similar to sharing our feelings with a loved one.

Freedom of expression

Sharing with a trusted confidant might seem even better than writing down feelings, as it serves a similar purpose and offers us warmth and validation that a piece of paper can’t provide. And that’s probably true, write Pennebaker and Smyth in Opening Up by Writing It Down .

One study , for example, found that people who talked to a therapist for four short daily sessions showed more positive emotion and less negative emotion. They gained understanding and perspective, and they made healthy behavior changes similar to people who journaled.

Therapy also seemed to be less unpleasant than writing. In fact, when Pennebaker originally envisioned journaling as a mental health exercise, he was inspired by the benefits of therapy—but mindful that not everyone has the means or the inclination to talk to a professional about their problems.

Of course, confessing to friends or partners isn’t without its complications. Sometimes our loved ones are overloaded by their own stresses, or they can’t offer the right kind of support—and may even make us feel worse. Other times, our secrets feel too vulnerable to speak out loud.

No matter what, if we’re talking to another human, our brains will be doing a constant calculation about what to say or not say, how they might react, and how we will be perceived, says Smyth. Confiding on paper can be a valuable alternative and a way to express ourselves with absolute freedom. Journaling lets us process secrets before we reveal them to others.

For Quatrini, who researches and teaches about China, the stress of the pandemic has an extra layer: With the disruption to U.S.-China relations and travel, she’s concerned about the future of her research. The immensity of that loss and uncertainty—and how it was affecting her day-to-day feelings and relationships—only became clear to her when she wrote about it.

“My entire life has been turned upside down and I don’t know if it will ever right itself,” she says. “Without the journal, I think I would not have figured that out.”

About the Author

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Kira M. Newman

Kira M. Newman is the managing editor of Greater Good . Her work has been published in outlets including the Washington Post , Mindful magazine, Social Media Monthly , and Tech.co, and she is the co-editor of The Gratitude Project . Follow her on Twitter!

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Health Encyclopedia

Journaling for emotional wellness.

When you were a teenager, you might have kept a diary hidden under your mattress. It was a place to confess your struggles and fears without judgment or punishment. It likely felt good to get all of those thoughts and feelings out of your head and down on paper. The world seemed clearer.

You may have stopped using a diary once you reached adulthood. But the concept and its benefits still apply as a grown up. Now it’s called journaling. It's simply writing down your thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly. And if you struggle with stress, depression, or anxiety, keeping a journal can be a great idea. It can help you gain control of your emotions and improve your mental health.

Journaling benefits     

One of the ways to deal with any overwhelming emotion is to find a healthy way to express yourself. This makes a journal a helpful tool in managing your mental health. Journaling can help you:

Manage anxiety

Reduce stress

Cope with depression

Journaling helps control your symptoms and improve your mood by:

Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns

Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them

Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and behaviors

When you have a problem and you're stressed, keeping a journal can help you identify what’s causing that stress or anxiety. Once you’ve identified your stressors, you can work on a plan to resolve the problems and reduce your stress.

Keep in mind that journaling is just one aspect of a healthy lifestyle for better managing stress, anxiety, and mental health conditions. To get the most benefits, be sure you also:

Relax and meditate each day.

Eat a healthy, balanced diet.

Exercise regularly—get in some activity every day.

Treat yourself to plenty of sleep each night.

Stay away from alcohol and drugs.

Use your journal to make sure you follow these guidelines daily.

How to journal

Try these tips to help you get started with journaling:

Try to write every day. Set aside a few minutes every day to write. This will help you to write in your journal regularly.

Make it easy. Keep a pen and paper handy at all times. Then when you want to write down your thoughts, you can. You can also keep a journal on your smartphone.

Write or draw whatever feels right. Your journal doesn't need to follow any certain structure. It's your own private place to discuss and create whatever you want to express your feelings. Let the words and ideas flow freely. Don't worry about spelling mistakes or what other people might think.

Use your journal as you see fit. You don't have to share your journal with anyone. If you do want to share some of your thoughts with trusted friends and loved ones, you could show them parts of your journal.

Keeping a journal helps you create order when your world feels like it’s in chaos. You get to know yourself by revealing your most private fears, thoughts, and feelings. Look at your writing time as personal relaxation time. It's a time when you can de-stress and wind down. Write in a place that's relaxing and soothing, maybe with a cup of tea. Look forward to your journaling time. And know that you're doing something good for your mind and body.

Medical Reviewers:

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Unit 1 Journal Entry; Social Psychology

Gratitude Journal: 66 Templates & Ideas for Daily Journaling

Gratitude Journal: 67 Templates, Ideas, and Apps for Your Diary

There are many reasons why gratitude is such a desirable quality, aside from its inherent goodness. As we recently wrote in a piece on the benefits of gratitude , performing simple daily acts of gratitude can have a big impact on your health and happiness.

These effects are particularly evident in the practice of gratitude journaling. It only takes a few minutes a day, but it can give you a lasting mood boost that can take you from feeling “okay” to feeling “great” on a more regular basis.

If you’re wondering what a gratitude journal is or how you can jump on the journaling train, read ahead to learn everything you need to know about keeping a gratitude journal!

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Gratitude Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients connect to more positive emotions and enjoy the benefits of gratitude.

This Article Contains:

What is a gratitude journal, what is the difference between a gratitude journal, planner, diary, and notebook, ideas for items in your gratitude log, the gratitude bullet journal, writing a gratitude essay, printable journal templates, 4 gratitude journal apps that can help, a take-home message.

A gratitude journal is, quite simply, a tool to keep track of the good things in life. No matter how difficult and defeating life can sometimes feel, there is always something to feel grateful for.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. – John F. Kennedy

Even more than that, regularly journaling about the good things in your life can help prepare and strengthen you to deal with the rough patches when they pop up.

It’s extremely simple to start: simply write down (or type) the things you are grateful for on a daily basis. You can use a journal, diary, notebook, or just a piece of paper. If you’re committed to being green or just find it easier to do things digitally, you can use one of the many gratitude apps or even a simple Word document!

If case you’re a mental health practitioner working with clients, you can use a tool like Quenza to share digital gratitude exercises with your clients.

Once you have your journal or app ready, simply start noting the things you are grateful for.

Got a promotion? Journal it!

Mastered a new yoga move? Journal it!

Received good news about a potential health problem? You guessed it—journal it!

It can that easy. In case you’re wondering “What will this practice do for me?” read on to learn about the potential benefits of this simple practice.

Benefits of a Gratitude Journal

We’ve already written about the benefits of a regular gratitude practice, but here are a few benefits people have noticed when practicing gratitude journaling in particular:

  • Gratitude journaling, like many gratitude practices, can lower your stress levels;
  • It can help you feel calmer, especially at night;
  • Journaling can give you a new perspective on what is important to you and what you truly appreciate in your life;
  • By noting what you are grateful for, you can gain clarity on what you want to have more of in your life, and what you can do without;
  • Gratitude journaling can help you find out and focus on what really matters to you;
  • Keeping a gratitude journal helps you learn more about yourself and become more self-aware;
  • Your gratitude journal is for your eyes only, so you can write anything you feel without worrying about judgment from others;
  • On days when you feel blue, you can read through your gratitude journal to readjust your attitude and remember all the good things in your life (Jessen, 2015).

A yoga enthusiast at Yoganonymous.com wrote about seven of the benefits he noticed when gratitude journaling:

  • It can make you more mindful, helping you to become more grounded and also making it easier to notice even more things you are grateful for;
  • Gratitude journaling can help you feel more balanced and less thrown off by daily stress;
  • You may notice that a lot more small, good things are happening—or maybe you’ll notice the small, good things that were already happening;
  • Your gratitude might act as a beacon to good things and good people, drawing even more positive things to be grateful for to you;
  • It can make you feel accomplished, even if it’s a relatively small accomplishment. We all need a win, no matter how big or small, every now and then;
  • Beware—it might just make you more giving and generous to others! But don’t worry, it isn’t always about money; paradoxically, there are things that actually grow and increase when we give them away, like compassion, empathy, and laughter;
  • Gratitude journaling can provide a sense of context or interconnectedness. It can remind us how things in life are connected to one another, and guide us to one of those rare moments in which we truly recognize that the word is so much bigger than us, yet we are grateful just to be a small part of it (Pope, 2016).

If you’re the kind of person who wants that hard evidence in addition to accounts of personal experience, there are studies that back these observations:

  • A brand new study of a three-month trial of gratitude journaling found that both reflective (finding things to be grateful for) and reflective-behavioral (finding things to be grateful for and expressing your gratitude ) journaling have a significant, positive impact on wellbeing, affect, and depression (O’Connell, O’Shea, & Gallagher, 2017);
  • Another brand new study showed that Turkish freshmen who completed a three-week gratitude journal experienced greater gratitude, better adjustment to university life, higher life satisfaction, and enhanced positive affect, compared to a control group of freshmen (Işık & Ergüner-Tekinalp, 2017);
  • Gratitude journaling has been shown to help divorced parents forgive their ex-spouse(s), an extremely important step towards positive co-parenting (Rye, Fleri, Moore, Worthington, Wade, Sandage, & Cook, 2012);
  • Finally, gratitude researchers in Australia found evidence that gratitude journaling helped school leaders foster a balanced view of the good and bad things that happen at school, use more appreciative problem solving, find value in school-based relationships, and experience more positive emotion, ultimately making them better and happier leaders (Waters & Stokes, 2015).

So, gratitude journaling seems like it has a lot of potential upsides and no noticeable downsides. But how does it differ from writing in any old diary or journal?

how to write a journal entry for psychology

  • Gratitude journaling focuses on what you are grateful for ;
  • Filling out a planner focuses on what you need to do ;
  • A diary’s focus is on what happened in your day ;
  • Notebooks are for taking notes about the present, or future events, to help you remember important points .

Each item has a place and a purpose, but for the most part, they are not interchangeable.

Organizing your week ahead with a planner may incidentally give you things to look forward to and be grateful for, but chances are there will be some events or responsibilities you are NOT so grateful for in your planner.

Likewise, you will probably write down both positive and negative events from your day in a diary, meaning that the focus is not solely on what is good or helpful in your life. Finally, a notebook generally includes value-neutral notes and reminders, rather than lists of the good things in your life.

The gratitude journal is unique in this respect—it is the only item in the range of similar notebooks, planners, and journals that are solely dedicated to noticing and appreciating the positive things in your life. To get the maximum out of your gratitude journaling practice, try to keep it this way.

how to write a journal entry for psychology

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Your gratitude journal or log is a personal endeavor that must be unique to you and your life.

No one can tell you what makes the cut for you and your particular circumstances, but there are some suggestions that might help if you’re struggling in the beginning.

Brianna Steinhilber of everup.com drafted a list of 20 gratitude prompts that can get you writing  about all the things you have to be grateful for. If you’re stuck at the start, at least a few of these prompts should be able to kickstart your gratitude creativity:

  • List five small ways that you can share your gratitude today.
  • Write about a person in your life that you’re especially grateful for and why.
  • What skills or abilities are you thankful to have?
  • What is there about a challenge you’re experiencing right now that you can be thankful for?
  • How is where you are in life today different than a year ago–and what positive changes are you thankful for?
  • What activities and hobbies would you miss if you were unable to do them?
  • List five body parts that you’re grateful for and why.
  • What about the city you live in are you grateful for?
  • What are you taking for granted about your day to day that you can be thankful for?
  • List 5 people in your life who are hard to get along with—and write down at least one quality for each that you are grateful for.
  • What materialistic items are you most grateful for?
  • Write about the music you’re thankful to be able to listen to and why.
  • Who has done something this week to help you or make your life easier and how can you thank them?
  • What foods or meals are you most thankful for?
  • What elements of nature are you grateful for and why?
  • What part of your morning routine are you most thankful for?
  • Write a letter to someone who has positively impacted your life, however big or small.
  • What is something you’re grateful to have learned this week?
  • When was the last time you laughed uncontrollably—relive the memory.
  • What aspects of your work environment are you thankful for (Steinhilber, 2015)?

If you’re looking for some more specific examples of the items others list in their gratitude journals, check out Oprah’s five items from her personal gratitude journal on October 12, 1996:

  • A run around Florida’s Fisher Island with a slight breeze that kept me cool;
  • Eating cold melon on a bench in the sun;
  • A long and hilarious chat with Gayle about her blind date with Mr. Potato Head;
  • Sorbet in a cone, so sweet that I literally licked my finger;
  • Maya Angelou calling to read me a new poem (Winfrey, n.d.).

Since we can’t all be friends with fabulous and inspiring celebrities, here are a few other example items for a gratitude journal:

  • The sunrise this morning during your early run or while getting ready for the day;
  • A quick text from a loved one simply checking in on you;
  • The feeling of slipping into bed with freshly washed sheets;
  • Having enough to feed yourself and put a roof over your head;
  • Your stress ball, which is so good at calming you down during tense or important phone calls;
  • The strawberries you had for lunch today, in the sweet spot between soft and firm;
  • Your child’s smile as you tuck them into bed;
  • Your Pandora or Spotify playlist that so often plays exactly the song you needed to hear;
  • The groceries your significant other brought home from the store (even if they forgot something!);
  • The sound of rain falling on your window at night, calming and relaxing you.

While jumping right in and thinking about what you can write in your gratitude journal is an exciting part of the journey, it can get somewhat less exciting as time goes on. On those days when you no longer feel pumped to write down what you are grateful for, it’s good to be prepared.

These tips for maintaining a gratitude journal can help. Lauren Jessen of the Huffington Post blog has these suggestions:

  • Plan to write in your gratitude journal every night for 15 minutes before bed. Set an alarm reminder on your phone or schedule it in your calendar. I’ve found that it is easier to write at night so that I can include things that I am grateful for from that day.
  • Keep your gratitude journal by your nightstand so you will see it before going to sleep and remember to jot down what you are thankful for. Your journal may even become a symbol of gratitude so that when you just look at it, you will feel a sense of appreciation.
  • Write as many things as you want in your gratitude journal. Writing down 5-10 things that you are grateful for each day is a good number to aim for.
  • Your gratitude journal doesn’t have to be deep. What you are thankful for can be as simple as “family” or “the new book or movie I recently enjoyed” or “this morning’s breakfast.” What you are grateful for will differ from everyone else (find a list of gratitude books here ).
  • The timing of when you want to write is up to you. While I try to write in my gratitude journal every night, sometimes it becomes every other night. That’s okay. Journal when it feels right for you—the benefits really are worth it. (Jessen, 2015)

Creating a gratitude journal has even become popular enough for its own “WikiHow” page! For step-by-step directions on how to keep a gratitude journal, you can visit the page here .

Finally, I came upon a set of tips for making sure you are getting everything you can out of your gratitude journal practice. Keep these in mind when journaling, and there should be no obstacle in your way that can stop you!

  • Don’t just go through the motions—be conscious about your new “attitude of gratitude.”
  • Don’t set a minimum number of things to be grateful for every day—aiming for five things is fine, but accept that there will be some days when you need to gift yourself understanding and flexibility.
  • Don’t wait for the “right time.” It’s fine to write something early in the day.
  • Elaborate on why you are grateful for the things you write down. This can help you understand what is truly important to you and what you can cut out of your life.
  • Focus on people rather than things. It’s okay to be thankful for your smartphone or your car, but the joy you receive from important relationships likely dwarfs your fondness for electronics.
  • Don’t rush through the process—try to savor the act of journaling.
  • Include surprises in your list. Surprises can provoke a greater emotional response than planned activities and can be excellent to look back on when you’re feeling stuck in the rut of routine.
  • Keep the negative out of your journal. As we mentioned earlier, the focus on what is good sets the gratitude journal apart from other forms of journaling, note-taking, and diary-writing—try to keep it that way!
  • Variety is the spice of life! Try to list new things as much as possible.
  • Be creative—even if you don’t think you’re creative. Feel like adding a picture of your significant other instead of making them into a single line? Do it!
  • Give it a chance. The common wisdom is that it takes three weeks to establish a new habit, so aim for at least three weeks of daily journaling before making any judgments. The only thing you stand to lose if you don’t take to gratitude journaling is a few minutes a day—hardly a huge loss (Jensen, n.d.).

Armed with these tips, examples, and guidelines, hopefully, you will find it easy to begin and maintain a gratitude journal! Now all you need to do is find the format that works for you.

Benefits of a Gratitude Journal

This format is referred to as the gratitude “bullet” journal since each thing you are grateful for can be represented as one bullet point in the monthly block. Many who prefer bullet journals still keep these bullets organized by day, although they tend to use the day of the month rather than the day of the week (i.e., “15” rather than “Tuesday the 15th”).

For an example of the gratitude bullet journal, see the pictures below.

gratitude journal

Many who extoll the benefits of the gratitude bullet journal recommend listing one thing, or at least one thing, you are grateful for each day, which may make it easier to start if you are struggling to come up with five items each day.

You could even save yourself some work and purchase dedicated gratitude notebooks that have prompts and inspirational snippets. Pockitudes are pocket-sized journals that serve as a compact reminder to practice and log daily gratitude reflections and are available at many retailers in the US.

Whether you choose a more traditional log of gratitude or a gratitude bullet journal, what’s important is that you commit to feeling grateful every day and stick with it!

Decorating your journal or adding a personal touch or other stylistic flairs can help you stay motivated, so don’t be afraid to get creative. This journal is for you and only you, so do whatever works for you!

What is a Gratitude Journal?

However, it can have a profound impact on your perspective and spur you to be more mindful and grateful of the good things in your life.

Respected researcher and Journal of Positive Psychology editor Robert Emmons describes his assignment of a gratitude essay as follows:

“Some years ago, I asked people with debilitating physical illnesses to compose a narrative concerning a time when they felt a deep sense of gratitude to someone or for something. I asked them to let themselves re-create that experience in their minds so that they could feel the emotions as if they had transported themselves back in time to the event itself. I also had them reflect on what they felt in that situation and how they expressed those feelings” (Emmons, 2013).

A gratitude essay is a declaration, a reflection, and an acknowledgment of what you have to be grateful for and, indirectly, who you are. The occasion that you think back to and your reaction to this reflection can reveal a lot about who you are and what you value.

For example, if you look back with deep gratitude on something your mother did for you, full to the brim with self-sacrificing love, you will likely find that you place immense value on family and close relationships with loved ones.

If you reflect back on a helping hand from a teacher, you might be the sort of person who greatly values mentoring, compassion, or the “pay it forward” mentality.

The point is that writing a gratitude essay is not just a great way to acknowledge and reflect on some of the most important or defining moments of gratitude in your life, it is also a way to learn about yourself.

With that in mind, grab a pen or a keyboard, get to thinking about something you are grateful for, and prepare yourself to learn!

Ideas for Items in Your Gratitude Log

To save you the time of looking through hundreds of templates, I narrowed it down to five different printable templates you can use for your own journal.

Of course, if none of these fit your personal style, there are many others just a few clicks away. As always, find what works for you!

The Grateful Journal

This template is intended for those who would like to meld their gratitude practice with their religious or spiritual beliefs. If you are not looking for mentions of a specific religious figure or deity, continue on for more templates!

Gratitude Journal

For an easy-to-use journal that incorporates a range of useful prompts, try our free gratitude journal worksheet .

The worksheet invites you to start your day by listing ten things you are grateful for. You’re then encouraged to reflect positively on the learning opportunities provided to you by the day’s challenges, as well as the people you are grateful for. Finally, before going to bed, you are invited to reflect on the day’s happiest moment for five minutes–hopefully helping to lull you into a peaceful sleep.

Gratitude Journal, Four Parts

Gratitude Worksheet

It splits the sheet into four parts, with a part dedicated to morning gratitude (listing things you are grateful for right at the beginning of your day), one corner for writing down what you are learning from challenges in your life, one part to list the people you are most grateful for today, and the final piece dedicated to describing the best part of your day.

This is a fun and unique way to make every day a gratitude-filled one!

Gratitude Bullet Points

If you’re partial to the bullet points style, you may like this template . It includes four separate week columns with space for three things you are grateful for each day.

One nice thing about this template is that you can start your week on whichever day works for you since the days are labeled “Day 1” through “Day 7” instead of Sunday through Monday.

Gratitude Journal, Etsy

If you feel like supporting an independent business owner, there is a great template available for purchase on Etsy.

This instant download is under $10 and includes space to note what you are grateful for each day of the week as well as space to explain why you are grateful for each item. They also have other versions that you may be partial to. Head on over to support a crafty individual and begin your gratitude journey at the same time!

How to start a gratitude journal you’ll actually keep

As with most problems or tasks in life, there is now an app for that!

If you prefer the feel of a touchscreen over a pen in your hand, there are plenty of apps that support your daily gratitude practice.

Gratitude / Bliss Journal

For example, the Gratitude Journal or Bliss Journal is an old standby in the area of gratitude journal apps. It is available for Android devices and takes up only a tiny sliver of your phone’s memory. Best of all, it’s free to install!

If you’re looking for an app that will guide you through your daily gratitude practice with helpful exercises and prompts, click here to learn more about or download this app.

This Gratitude Journal app is available for download from iTunes, with versions that are compatible with the iPhone and iPad.

This app will only set you back about 45 MB of space, but it packs a powerful punch. It aims for a distraction-free and easy-to-use interface, with easy scrolling and syncing on all iOS devices.

Bonus points—it also uses little heart symbols to track what you are grateful for each day! To see the hearts for yourself or download this app, click here .

Gratitude 365 Pro

This gratitude journal app is available for iPhone and allows the user to incorporate photos, track their journaling by day, and organize with email, Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr calendar.

It’s all in the name with this app, so give it a try if you plan on adding gratitude to your daily practice, 365 days a year! You can read more about it or download it here .

Another app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, Day One helps you keep a digital diary complete with pictures, maps, and notes about your day. This app can cut across devices, presenting you with the same look and format for each platform.

While this app is intended for more of a diary or daily journal purpose, it is easy to use it for tracking your gratitude. You can find it for Mac or for iPhone and iPad in the iTunes store. Click here to learn more about this app.

Starting up a new hobby or practice can be difficult, especially when it’s a practice that can dig up some pretty intense feelings. Don’t be alarmed if you find it to be a difficult, overwhelming, or highly emotional experience at first. Try to lean into the discomfort and keep your commitment to daily gratitude, because greater peace and contentment lie on the other side!

Have fun with your gratitude journal, and remember to make it uniquely “you!”

Have you ever practiced regular gratitude journaling? Are you currently keeping a gratitude journal? Do you have any tips or tricks to avoid some common distractions or difficulties? Let us know in the comments!

For further reading:

  • Gratitude Meditation: A Simple But Powerful Happiness Intervention
  • The 20 Best TED Talks And Videos on The Power of Gratitude
  • The Neuroscience of Gratitude and How It Affects Anxiety & Grief (Incl. Exercises)
  • The Gratitude Tree for Kids (Incl. Activities + Drawings)

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Gratitude Exercises for free .

  • Emmons, R. (2013, May 13). How gratitude can help you through hard times. Greater Good Science Center. Retrieved from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_can_help_you_through_hard_times
  • Işık, Ş., & Ergüner-Tekinalp, B. (2017). The effects of gratitude journaling on Turkish first year college students’ college adjustment, life satisfaction and positive affect. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling , 39 (2), 164-175.
  • Jensen, L. (n.d.). Turn pain to joy: 11 tips for a powerful gratitude journal. Tiny Buddha. Retrieved from http://tinybuddha.com/blog/turn-pain-to-joy-11-tips-for-a-powerful-gratitude-journal/
  • Jessen, L. (2015, July 8). The benefits of a gratitude journal and how to maintain one. The Huffington Post Blog. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-jessen/gratitude-journal_b_7745854.html
  • Marsh, J. (2011, November 17). Tips for keeping a gratitude journal. Greater Good Science Center. Retrieved from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/tips_for_keeping_a_gratitude_journal
  • O’Connell, B. H., O’Shea, D., & Gallagher, S. (2017). Feeling thanks and saying thanks: A randomized controlled trial examining if and how socially oriented gratitude journals work. Journal of Clinical Psychology , 73 (10), 1280-1300.
  • Pope, E. (2016, January 12). 7 benefits of creating a gratitude journal. Yoganonymous. Retrieved from http://yoganonymous.com/7-benefits-of-creating-a-gratitude-journal
  • Rye, M. S., Fleri, A. M., Moore, C. D., Worthington, E. J., Wade, N. G., Sandage, S. J., & Cook, K. M. (2012). Evaluation of an intervention designed to help divorced parents forgive their ex-spouse. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage , 53 , 231-245.
  • Steinhilber, B. (2015, November 24). 20 prompts for gratitude journaling. Everup. Retrieved from http://www.everup.com/2015/11/24/20-prompts-for-gratitude-journaling/
  • Waters, L., & Stokes, H. (2015). Positive education for school leaders: Exploring the effects of emotion-gratitude and action-gratitude. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist , 32 , 1-22.
  • Winfrey, O. (n.d.).  What Oprah knows for sure about gratitude. Retrieved from http://www.oprah.com/spirit/oprahs-gratitude-journal-oprah-on-gratitude

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Shobhna

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Marissa Leigh

Courtney, I loved reading this article. I will be looking into more of your posts to read in the future. I am just starting as a mental health blogger, and you are my image of success! I felt so inspired looking through your blog and your other work. I can’t wait to read your books!!

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Nigel B

Just starting my journaling journey at 57, but better late than never… as they say.

As a “newbie” I felt a little out of my comfort zone expressing my feelings on paper, and actually wrote on page one/day one, “Today I am grateful for nothing, sadly!” Not exactly the best start?

However having read your article I crossed out my entry and expressed my gratitude for you taking the time to write this post and passing on your wisdom to me.

Thank you so much for this article.

osahon idehen

Courtney! This is such a great article to signpost people to! I’m really grateful! Ha x Excellent stuff

Zulaihat Abdullahi

Thank you for posting this . I am filled with negativity and finding a way to get rid of it through a gratitude journal and I thank God that I found your site. I will come back in a week to write down my progress. (God willing).

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how to write a journal entry for psychology

3 Gratitude Exercises Pack

Robert N. Kraft Ph.D.

Journaling for Health

Taking a break from emails, texts, tweets, and facebook to write to ourselves..

Posted September 26, 2019

One effective way to promote emotional well being is to express what’s going on in our interior lives. Such expression helps with day-to-day frustrations as well as more emotionally intense periods in our lives. The fundamental therapeutic value of self-expression shows itself when we socialize with friends or talk to a psychotherapist or get together with family – and when we express to ourselves in a journal. Indeed, journaling is one of the most direct and helpful activities for maintaining our mental health.

We cannot go to therapy all hours of the day, any day of the week – we don’t have the time or the resources. Friends are helpful, but friends want to discuss a variety of topics in addition to what’s troubling us. Writing in a journal, on the other hand, is always available to us.

Journaling can help us emotionally by managing anxiety , reducing stress , coping with loss, and accommodating uncertainty. It can help us cognitively by encouraging us to analyze our daily lives, describing our concerns and fears and identifying what’s limiting or even sabotaging our goals .

How to Keep a Journal

We don’t need to journal every day, but we should write regularly. One beginning guideline is to write three entries a week To begin, we need to find a period in our day that feels right for reflective thought – in the morning, just after work, later in the evening – it doesn’t matter. It’s important to fit journaling into our own rhythms and tendencies. We can then look forward to journaling time.

Journals entries don’t need to follow a particular structure. It’s our own private place to discuss whatever we want. Let the words flow freely and don’t worry about what others might think.

Moving Toward Emotional Well-Being

Writing in a journal takes time. It is a way of respecting and more fully appreciating our concerns. Through writing, we can turn the seemingly senseless into the meaningful. We can’t change the physical events of the world, but we can write descriptions of these events that give us more agency and more sense.

pixabay

Journaling can become a healthy habit along with other healthy habits – eating a nutritional diet , exercising regularly, socializing, getting enough sleep. In fact, a journal can keep our attention on these other necessary habits.

Externalizing Our Selves

Importantly, writing externalizes our thoughts and emotions. We gain control of our words – and therefore our meanings. We get to know ourselves by revealing our most private fears, thoughts, and feelings. Ultimately, we are able to stand apart from our own writing and study it as an artifact for self-revelation.

Learning What Causes Our Stress and Anxiety

Journaling allows us to document and keep records of our feelings. In this way, we can identify aspects of our social and physical environment that cause stress or anxiety. Tracking events and emotional responses allows us to recognize emotional triggers and learn effective ways to prepare for them. Writing a journal also allows us to identify negative thoughts and behaviors, while also providing an opportunity for positive self-talk .

Reviewing Our Journal for Patterns

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Every so often we should read and re-read our journal. By doing so, we can detect patterns in our emotional lives. Most of us can see the importance of individual events, even as we miss the overall patterns of these events. These arcs of behavior and emotion are often hidden from us because our lives focus on solving immediate problems and then moving on to the next set of challenges. Keeping a journal and reviewing the individual entries makes hidden patterns visible. While reviewing our journal, we see individual entries coalesce into larger themes, revealing larger themes in our emotional and interpersonal lives.

We can also detect if we are obsessing or repeating ourselves or writing in unproductive circles. We may then want to move away from these repetitive thinking patterns. Venting can be useful for a time, but eventually, for writing to be therapeutic, it needs to express and to find meaning.

Feeling Free

Writing a journal is not selfish or a waste of time. It is a good unto itself. But also – practically speaking – ideas that come out in a journal can often be applied in social settings and at work.

Reading Published Journals

Other people’s journals can serve as examples and also as sources of insight. Two especially insightful journals are Journal of a Solitude and The House by the Sea , both authored by May Sarton. I recently enjoyed a wise , eccentric 100-year-old journal entitled Journal of a Disappointed Man .

how to write a journal entry for psychology

Writing a journal provides a trustworthy and sympathetic audience that is always available to us. Through writing in our journal, we talk to ourselves. Through reading what we’ve written, we listen and we learn.

Robert N. Kraft Ph.D.

Robert N. Kraft, Ph.D. , is a professor of cognitive psychology at Otterbein University.

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COMMENTS

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    One such method is writing therapy. You don't need to be a prolific writer, or even a writer at all, to benefit from writing therapy. All you need is a piece of paper, a pen, and the motivation to write. Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free.

  2. PDF Writing for Psychology

    on which you will build the more specialized skills required for psychological writing. Writing in the field of psychology (like writing in any specialized field) differs in several respects from the general academic writing style you learned in Expos. Psycho-logical writing is a form of scientific reporting that is based on American Psychologi-

  3. Introduction to Psychology: Reflective Journal Assignment

    There is no single right way or wrong way to write a reflective learning journal. You simply write down, using your own personal everyday language, what you thought about or what you felt or experienced as you engaged with the reading or other course materials.

  4. 5 Ways to Write a Journal Entry

    Method 1 Choosing a Topic Download Article 1 Write about what's going on in your life. This includes things like the activities you're doing, events that happen, and accomplishments you make. Use your journal to record what your life is like right now so you can look back on it later. [1]

  5. How to start journaling for mental health

    6 April 2023 How to start journaling for mental health Discover how to get started with journaling for improved mental health and wellbeing... By Psychologies Journaling has exploded in popularity, and little wonder - it's a great way to gain insight to your problems, connect with yourself, and it can be a lot of fun, too.

  6. Journal Manuscript Preparation Guidelines

    Topics in Psychology. Explore how scientific research by psychologists can inform our professional lives, family and community relationships, emotional wellness, and more. ... You will find instructions specific to the journal you wish to submit to on that journal's webpage. However, the guidelines below apply to most of our publications. ...

  7. Therapeutic Journaling: An Introduction & Guide to Writing for Your

    Therapeutic journaling is a deep-dive into internal thoughts and experiences, in order to gain new self-perspective. Therapeutic journaling is the process of writing down our thoughts, emotions and experiences. It differs from the process of recording daily events in a diary, which many of us are probably familiar with.

  8. 64 Journaling Prompts for Self-Discovery

    Try the 64 prompts below to kick-start your creativity and write your way toward well-being. How to use journal prompts You can certainly learn more about yourself by reviewing what you do each...

  9. Guide to Publishing in Psychology Journals

    The Guide to Publishing in Psychology Journals is a complete guide to writing psychology articles for publication. It goes beyond the formal requirements to the tacit or unspoken knowledge that is key to writing effective articles and to gaining acceptance by quality journals.

  10. Guide for Writing in Psychology

    Writing a Journal Critique Evidence in Psychology Citation in Psychology Conventions & Formatting in Psychology Writing A Few Other Tips Suggested Further Readings American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: APA.

  11. Journal Writing in Therapy

    Daily Entries - Writing is not only creative but also therapeutic. Journaling can be cathartic by releasing pent-up feelings such as anger, depression, fear, guilt, jealousy, regret, resentment, sadness, shock, and yearning. Clients can record their symptoms in between sessions. The pages of the journal act as a container for these powerful ...

  12. PSY 240 Journal Entries

    From this page you can link to many journal entries submitted by previous Social Psychology students who permitted me to share their anonymous entries with future classes. You can use these wonderful entries to see the types of entries I am looking for from your journals. Also,

  13. Journaling in Therapy

    Your writer's block. The list can go on and on. The main thing is to make it manageable or you won't do it. Many an ambitious therapy journal (and PT blog, for that matter) begin with an...

  14. How Journaling Can Help You in Hard Times

    I know I'm not the only one with a pandemic journal. In fact, hundreds of people have written journal entries on the Pandemic Project website, a resource created by psychology researchers that offers writing prompts to help people explore their experiences and emotions around COVID-19.. At a time when the days blend into each other, journaling is helping people separate one from the next and ...

  15. How to Start a Journaling Practice

    Reflective journaling is thought to aid experiential learning—or learning from our real-life experiences. You might start by first reflecting on the details of an experience. Then, aim to ...

  16. Journaling for Therapy and Mental Health: 10 Prompts

    Log in Journaling for Therapy and Mental Health: 10 Prompts SonderMind Monday, July 11 2022 Therapy is hard work. Opening up about your background, feelings, and experiences during therapy sessions takes a lot of courage and strength.

  17. Health Encyclopedia

    Cope with depression. Journaling helps control your symptoms and improve your mood by: Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns. Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them. Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and behaviors.

  18. Unit 1 Journal Entry; Social Psychology (pdf)

    Sofia Vizcarra Professor. McKellar Social Psychology August 20, 2023 Unit 1: Journal Entry Norman Triplett's theory is something I've recently come to relate in my current life. He claimed that the presence of others has an impact on a person's performance. In my current position as a sales associate with Order Express, we deal with customer ...

  19. Self-Esteem Journals, Prompts, PDFs and Ideas

    Self-esteem is one of the most researched psychological constructs in society. Parents, teachers, coaches, and mentors are continually attempting to foster self-esteem in children, students, athletes, and employees. It is a critical component of success, life satisfaction, and wellbeing. Self-esteem is an individual's overall sense of value ...

  20. Journaling for Mindfulness: 44 Prompts, Examples & Exercises

    1. Doodling. Take a fine black pen and start either in the middle of the page and work your way out, or start in one corner and move to the opposite diagonal corner. While doodling, you can reflect on the same gratitude instruction used above, or you can focus on the doodles and making the lines connect.

  21. How to Start Journaling for Better Mental Health

    Start with the basics. First, journaling is just a way to record your thoughts and feelings. Second, deciding to journal is a great way to improve your wellbeing. Journaling isn't just beneficial...

  22. Gratitude Journal: 66 Templates & Ideas for Daily Journaling

    The main difference between a gratitude journal and other similar items, like planners, diaries, and notebooks, is the focus of the action: Gratitude journaling focuses on what you are grateful for;; Filling out a planner focuses on what you need to do;; A diary's focus is on what happened in your day;; Notebooks are for taking notes about the present, or future events, to help you remember ...

  23. Journal Entry for psychology

    Journal Entry Describe a minimum of three personal or professional goals and the ideal situation that would support accomplishment of your goals. Your ideal situation might include things related to your health, living situation, financial situation, or relationship status. For instance, if your goal is to buy a house, then an ideal situation would be that you continue to work and receive ...

  24. Journaling for Health

    How to Keep a Journal We don't need to journal every day, but we should write regularly. One beginning guideline is to write three entries a week To begin, we need to find a period in our...