3 Ways to Use Journals for Counseling Services
Communication is a key element for counseling sessions and connecting with professional help, but for some people, verbal communication can be a tough mental wall to break through. To help better connect with a counseling service and get the guidance you seek, consider the use of a journal.
Journals are open-ended ways to express your feelings and communicate through writing. There's no wrong way to journal and a personal book provides you with multiple ways to bridge the communication gaps. Learn here about three ways to use a journal for counseling services and how to get the most out of your personal thoughts.
1. Questions
Do not let the pressure of a set appointment cause you to forget questions, draw blanks, or lose out on time where you can have questions answered. Consider a journal a place for jotting down notes. Leave pages open and set up areas exclusively for specific appointment dates. When a question or thought comes to mind, you can easily write it inside the journal.
To help set goals, you can add a specific amount of questions to a journal entry. Start off with a low amount like three questions so you can easily reach your goal. For future appointments, you can expand the number of questions you have.
When your next session comes up, you will have the questions ready and can ensure you don't forget to bring up something you meant to bring up. A little organization will help you maintain your thoughts and you will quickly build up a new routine so you do not forget any questions in the future.
As you become more comfortable with your counselor, you can add more detailed questions and convey your thoughts more openly and honestly.
2. Post-Session Reflections
After a counseling session has ended, you will often have a lot of emotions and reflections on the forefront of your mind. Instead of waiting for another session or losing your train of thought, you can rely on a journal to express those emotions. A journal gives you the opportunity to continue the counseling session with yourself and get those feelings out.
Take the extra time to reflect and then return to those entries just before your next counseling session. Thoughts and emotions often change and you can use those reflection times to see how much you have grown and evolved through the counseling process.
3. Daily Logs
A journal doesn't always to be a personal entry with prose and writing. Many journals can be used as logs. The logs can help you through counseling as you view trends and habits you've gone through. For example, if part of your counseling includes changing your eating habits, then you may start a food journal.
A food journal could include what you ate, the emotions you felt after meals, and what foods you craved and possibly avoided. A counselor can go over the food journal with you, gain some insight, and help you figure out some of the positive trends and strides you are making.
Instead of writing about your feelings and emotions throughout the day, you can simply log them to figure out certain triggers. For example, you can log times when you're really angry and jot down the events which led to the anger. The process will help you see any patterns that have formed and ways to help you cope through the patterns.
Get matched with a counselor to fit your needs and help guide you with our advanced services at Heritage Mental Health Clinic. Journaling is just one step to take and our professional counselors can help find the best path for your needs.