Journal Ideas for Therapy

by | Sep 5, 2017 | Health, Journaling | 0 comments

Journal Ideas for Therapy

5 Great Journal Ideas for Therapy

Between therapy sessions, it’s easy to come up with questions, good examples of current issues, or notice various symptoms or feelings. Keeping a therapy journal can be super helpful for tracking all of that information, in one place, which you can take with you and share at your next appointment. I’ve searched the web and found what I think to be 5 of the best examples of journal pages you can use as a helpful therapy tool.

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Post Therapy Notes:

Therapy is wonderful — and can be intense and weighty and give you a lot to think about. And with all the important takeaways you're probably getting, journaling after each session is a helpful tool. Bonior suggests summarizing what you talked about, pulling out any key lessons or things you want to remember, going over what things came up that were hard to talk about and why, and finally, things you either forgot to bring up or that you want to remember to talk about next time. "I think to write things down afterward can give you more strength to bring it up later," says Bonior. "It also helps you validate the feelings that came up in therapy and get more out of the experience."

Taylor Miller/BuzzFeed

A therapy session can cover a lot of topics or a few in depth ones. Keeping a journal in your car (or with you in the office) to jot down notes immediately afterwards can help you remember the most important points. This is useful to refer back to between sessions to keep any techniques/points fresh in your mind and help remind you to jot things down to discuss the next time you meet. Check out this article by Rachel Miller on Buzzfeed that includes Post Therapy Notes and other useful journal pages.

Trigger Tracking:

Minimalist Bullet Journal Layout - Mental health trigger tracking

Braman/LindsayBraman.com

If you experience panic attacks or other symptoms from triggering events, Lindsay Braman has created a simple Trigger Tracker to use. Not only is this useful information to share with your therapist, but a great way to notice patterns or commonalities between attacks.

Yearly Mood Tracker:

I am really surprised by this particular spread. I thought my down days were starting to creep in more and more, but when I go to fill in a square it forces me to think of the day as a whole. So although I might have had a down moment, overall I tend to find that the day itself wasn't that bad. I would really encourage everyone to make sure they include a Year in Pixels spread in their journals. And if you find that you are having more down days than good then perhaps you could try writing do...

tropical.sloth.bujo/instagram

This is a great example of a popular mood tracker that is used in the bullet journal community. One page in your journal can hold a years worth of moods! I also like how this tracker from Tropical.Sloth.Bujo on Instagram gives you the option of tracking symptoms (sick, pain) over the mood color. Your therapist only sees the moods you’re in during sessions. Sharing this tracker with them during your sessions can give them a better overall view of how you are coping on a day to day basis.

Detailed Symptoms and Mood Tracker:

Need help managing your stress? Check out this symptom tracker on Etsy! #mentalhealth #depression #anxiety #selfhelp #therapy

Therapy Journal/Etsy

If you feel like you need a more detailed mood/symptom tracker, this one from Therapy Journal might work better for you. This printed tracker is part of a collection created by Therapy Journal that can be purchased through Etsy.

Daily Therapy Journal:

Check out how to use a Happy Planner to journal for therapy.

Poirier/PlannerSquad.com

Guest writer on Planner Squad, Mayghan Poirier, shared a therapy journal layout that she created after her therapist recommended she start journaling. I love how it has a small section for notes for each topic, easy to complete level scales, and a clean layout. Learn more about her experience on Planner Squad.

Let me know what you think about these journal spreads. Do you already use any of these? Have you made your own unique therapy journal? I’d love to hear your ideas!

If you haven’t already, check out my post about Choosing a Therapist.

 

                      

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