We all hide out true stories behind a mask. Sometimes these buried stories start to take over your mind. They may make us feel like a walking corpse devoid of any meaning. While you can resort to therapy to undo the knot of your trauma, this may not be a readily available option. This does not mean that your case is hopeless. You can still employ one of the best therapeutic techniques known for its accessibility: using journal prompts for healing.
But how do you use journaling as a medium of self-development? And are there any support groups that you can join? Yes, the internet has everything that you need!
So, without further ado, get your journal and pen, and let’s dive right in!
Is Journaling Good for Healing?
Yes, journaling is great for healing. It is a powerful tool that will assist you in embarking on your journey toward healing.
But how can the mere expression of words on paper turn your life around? Let’s discuss the connection between the expression of thoughts and your psyche.
“There is nothing to writing”, wrote Earnest Hemmingway, “all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed”.
Now, we can very well assume that your heart is wounded. While hiding this wound can help you exist, it won’t allow you to live.
What you need is acceptance and tenderness. Your psychological well-being requires adoration- especially from yourself. While your thoughts may feel like sickness, they also hold the cure.
Shifting Your Internal Narrative
All that is needed is a little shift in your internal narrative. And how do you do that? Start by getting acquainted with the words you are telling yourself in the first place. We already know the efficacy of journaling as a therapeutic technique.
The truth is this: everything about our psyche is rooted in our beliefs. The entirety of our behavior is traceable to our thinking and internal monologue- much of which goes unnoticed.
However, once we grasp our unconscious motives and desires, we can work on improving them consciously.
As Carl Jung famously said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious it will direct your life and you will call it fate”
So, yes, journaling can help you heal. But it also depends on the lens you are operating under. Much like any practice, there are correct and incorrect ways to journal. Therefore, once you are past the point of freewriting, we generally recommend targeted improvement through prompts.
You can use them for everything, including confidence, anger, connecting with teens, travel, and anything else you can think of!
What Kind of Healing Can a Journal Help With?
If there exists a wound, there must be a way to cure it. And if there’s pain, there must be a way to relieve it. But can we apply this chain of thought to journaling as well? What kind of suffering can journaling prompts for healing help with? Let’s find out!
Using Journal Prompts for Healing from a Heartbreak
Remember when we were kids and how we would rush to our little diary whenever we were upset? It didn’t matter what had happened. Sometimes it was our parent’s misdirected anger whereas, at others, it was merely the fact that our friend was also someone else’s best friend.
Every time that heartbreak struck, we would resort to channeling our thoughts in our cozy and comfortable corner.
While we may not be 10-year-old kids anymore, journaling can help us in similar ways. Heartbreak will be a recurrent theme throughout life. To tackle it effectively, we need to analyze our lessons objectively. Our emotions may not allow that while we continuously stifle them.
Journaling allows us to hold our brains in the palm of our hands, our bare thoughts laid in front of us. Through consistent practice and perseverance, we can decide which ones we want to continue having and which beliefs are better left behind.
Using Journal Prompts for Healing from Trauma
In Journaling as Therapy, Steve Colori stated: “… writing thoughts in my journal has cleared space in my mind for more thoughts and it also somehow makes those thoughts permanently accessible within my mind even though they are written down and no longer in the forefront of my mind”.
When we go through something traumatic, the “forefront” of our brains can get bitterly filled with sentiments that make us feel bad. Sometimes we may not even know where these feelings originate from.
These emotions include sadness, frustration, jealousy, anger, emptiness, inadequacy, fear, guilt, and even loneliness. Through the process of expression, identification of triggers, clarity of mind, goal-setting, and acquisition, one can hope to live a better and healthier life.
Using Journal Prompts for Spiritual Healing
It does not matter if we consider ourselves to be spiritual or not. Our minds entertain vistas of ideas, one of which is the spiritual aspect of existence. Belief in God (or multiple gods), the universe, yourself, angels, and higher deities are ideas some people find incredible solace in.
Journaling can be a medium for connecting with your innermost self by exploring such metaphysical ideas. You don’t even have to choose spiritual prompts specifically. As you continue writing using journal prompts for healing, the meaning of life may present itself before you.
Your mind may switch to revelations regarding a higher purpose as you relinquish past emotions and learn to enjoy the gift of presence.
So, don’t hesitate to use journaling to explore themes such as the meaning of life or even the Ultimate Truth.
Using Journal Prompts for Healing from Grief
Much like dealing with other forms of heartbreak, grief also centers around the narrative we’re telling ourselves. That does not mean we have to change our entire perspectives overnight. That would merely serve as a bandaid to a bullet wound.
However, when we slowly begin to express the loss we have incurred, we’re better able to process it. Whether it is the death of someone you loved or any other traumatic memory, you’re free to write about whatever you want.
What makes journal prompts for healing great when it comes to grief is finding meaning in tragedy. Of course, you will not be forced to do so.
Reflecting on your life, such as by writing letters to your past self, describing how you have changed, learning to accept, and then adapting to that grief will allow you to grow.
20 Great Journal Prompts for Healing
So now that we know about the variety of aches that healing can assist in recovering, let’s get to the practical implication of our journey.
Here are our top 20 great journal prompts for healing you can employ in your daily routine. You don’t need to follow these in any particular order. Skim through them, find one that clicks, and begin writing!
- Write about a traumatic experience and what you have learned from it.
- Reflect on a time when you felt most loved and supported.
- Write a letter to yourself forgiving yourself for past mistakes.
- Think about a person who has hurt you and write a letter to them, expressing your feelings and forgiving them.
- Write down your negative self-talk and reframe each thought into a positive one.
- Describe a moment when you felt proud of yourself.
- Write about what you are grateful for in your life.
- Reflect on a time when you let go of something that was holding you back.
- Write about what you want to heal from and what steps you can take to do so.
- Imagine yourself in a peaceful and calm environment, and describe what it feels like.
- Write about what you need to feel safe and secure.
- Reflect on a time when you felt overwhelmed and what you did to cope.
- Write about what you want to achieve in terms of self-growth.
- Think about a time when you showed compassion to someone and how it made you feel.
- Write a letter to your younger self, offering comfort and advice.
- Reflect on your past experiences and what you have learned from them.
- Write about what self-care means to you and how you plan to implement it in your life.
- Think about a time when you felt strong and powerful, and describe why.
- Write about your fears and how you plan to overcome them.
- Reflect on a time when you felt happy and fulfilled, and what made it special.
If you want to use journaling prompts for healing but struggle with writing consistently, the following YouTube video will help:
Book Suggestions for Healing
Reading about people’s journeys, insights, and experiences can be a great way to find meaning amid suffering. It can even help you find the appropriate course for yourself. If you’re looking for book suggestions to broaden your mental horizons, here are our top three recommendations for emotional healing:
Thriving as an Empath by Judith Orloff
Empathy and sensitivity are traits that are often neglected. It is important to remember that you are equally important as those around you.
So, whether you’re dealing with setting boundaries, protecting your energy, breaking through sensory overload, or simply looking to find self-soothing techniques, this book is the one for you!
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
“A wonderful book, a story of the heart told by a writer with soul”, wrote the Los Angeles Times regarding this contemplative read.
A conversation between the rekindled relationship of a student and his college professor, this book explores the fundamental humanistic theme of learning to live life through death itself. It’s a fascinating discussion between naivety and wisdom and unlearning the irrelevant to internalize the essential.
If you’re still unsure about getting this book, check out this quote by Mitch that summarizes the entire essence of the book: “The truth is, Mitch,” he said, “once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” Cool, right?
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
If you’re tired of conventional self-help books and want to read a novel that will both break and mend your heart, this will be the fit for you.
Described as “a thought-provoking, thoroughly entertaining novel that captures the complexity of love” by People Magazine, it captures the love story between two people who have nothing in common yet seem to bond over their unconventionality and uniqueness.
We recommend this book for every teenager and lover or The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. And if you need a little push to spark interest, here’s the entire theme encapsulated in a sentence by the author herself: “What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?”
Well, we suppose there’s no other way to find that out other than reading this mind-blowing book, is it?
Online Groups That Help with Healing
It is important to note that you don’t have to be alone in your healing journey. Online support groups can give you greater insight into your thought process.
Wanting help is nothing to be ashamed of. We’re all wired to seek intimate connections with our peers. If you’re looking for online groups to help you understand life better and feel good about yourself, look no further:
This social media app has a diversity of online groups you can join. Whether you’re mourning the death of a loved one, living with a mental health condition, or are part of a marginalized group, there is a Facebook group for everything. All you need to do is search for whatever you’re looking for.
ADAA Online Support Group
Did you know that the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) has support groups you can join to interact with people going through the same things you are? With over 60,000 subscribers, it’s a wonderful platform to share your story and seek or give advice.
Moreover, it is not just limited to people with anxiety and depression only. Numerous folks with OCD, ADHD, PTSD, and other disorders also resort to the app for emotional support.
Zencare
If you’re looking for a place to help you connect with professional and licensed therapists, this will be the place for you. Since this will entail support groups under guided supervision, there is targeted improvement and catharsis within the groups here.
Although this one is not free, we definitely recommend it if you find the pricing affordable. Unfortunately, finding the right support group that fits your individual needs may require a series of trial and error. You may need help finding one you feel safe and comfortable in.
Final Thoughts
So, now we know the efficacy of journal prompts for healing. We know they help in clarity of mind, relinquishing negative emotions, and finding a deeper connection within ourselves.
In the words of Sandra Marinella, Journaling transforms the entire course of your life by “piecing together the shattered selves, parts of which were splintered off during trauma no longer confined in one dark half, the Yin”.
In other words, it helps you find meaning amid suffering. You can neutralize the darkness for yourself. And even become a ray of light for those around you.
So, pat yourself on the back as a token of appreciation for coming so far, get that journal and pen, and begin writing. And don’t forget to fall in love with the process while you’re at it.
