Journaling in session or as homework opens up an entirely new dimension of therapeutic processing for our clients. But journaling is so much more than free writing. It also includes a host of expressive-writing techniques that you will learn in this training, such as unsent letters, lists of 100, sentence stems, AlphaPoems, dialoguing, clustering, touchstones, and more.

Many clients already journal on their own and will be curious about and open to the incorporation of expressive writing into their treatment. In fact, I have found that people are thrilled to have the opportunity to utilize creativity during their healing journey.

Journaling therapy is an evidence-based modality and has proven effective in addressing mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, grief and loss, low self-esteem, and substance abuse. Expressive writing also resonates with people of all ages and backgrounds, making it an indispensable part of any clinician’s toolbox.

In this workshop, you will explore the history of therapeutic journaling and learn a wide variety of ways in which expressive writing can be used with clients. We will also discuss how to help best clients create and maintain a consistent and fulfilling journaling practice outside of the session.

This training will be experiential and interactive, so please be sure to have a notebook or journal on hand!

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

• Teach the history of therapeutic journaling
• Identify the guidelines that should be used when deciding when and how to use therapeutic journaling
• Identify the principles behind different therapeutic journaling techniques
• Educate clients on the mental health benefits of therapeutic journaling
• Practice at least ten different techniques of therapeutic journaling
• Determine how to use therapeutic journaling with different populations
• Identify how to help clients build a structured and consistent journaling practice