Journalizing. What is it and why do it? Journalizing is very simple and quite effective. All you need is:

* A Journal (it can be as inexpensive or as elaborate as you desire)

* A pen or pencil

* Fifteen to twenty minutes per day of journalizing time.

As we have discussed in the other pages of this web site, when we feel anxious there are usually many “out of control” thoughts racing through our minds. Distorted thoughts. Sometimes they are racing at such a frenzy pace that we cannot easily sort them out. We cannot see them well enough to dispute them with the Truth. That is where journalizing comes in.

By writing down our thoughts and feelings one by one we can more clearly see them and recognize their mis-truths. We can then easily dispute their lies with the Truth. This will always lead to a reduction in our anxiety level.

Also, when we write down our thoughts and feelings we will usually find that there are not as many problems “going on” as we think there are. This, too, will lower our anxiety level. I can’t tell you how many times it has seemed to me like there were hundreds of things going wrong only to find, after journalizing, that those hundreds of things were actually three or four small things that were bugging me.

Journalizing is something that I recommend doing every day or as often as possible. It can help to reduce anxiety during stressful times and it will help you to think and see more clearly every day. And that is the key to a panic free life.

One additional note one journalizing. It is also a wonderful way to keep track of the week to week and month to month progress that you are making in your recovery. I have been keeping a daily journal for over a decade and I plan to continue this practice for the rest of my life.

LETTER WRITING

When someone in your past has harmed you, either physically, or emotionally there is a need to confront that person or persons. However, this may sometimes be an impossible thing to do as the person may have either died or may live where we are unable to reach them.

Often, too, it is unwise to directly confront them. Doing so may put us in physical jeopardy or cause them (in the case of the elderly and frail) severe physical trauma.

Still, we may have a need to tell this person exactly how much they have hurt us and what they did wrong to us. Expressing these emotions and truths is a psychologically healthy and often necessary process.

If it is unwise or we cannot reach our wrongdoers then how can we proceed to work through this therapeutic process?

We can get the same positive psychological effect by writing letters to them. By writing letters that express our deepest feelings toward them. That tell them everything that we are thinking and outlining in detail all of the ways and things that they have done wrong to us.

You do not ever have to send these letters. They can be thrown away of burned after you have finished writing each one. The point is not to harm the ones who have hurt you but to confront them through the writing of letters and to work through all of your feelings and thoughts toward them.

It’s your healing that is important here. You do not have to actually confront those who have hurt you nor do you have to send the letters that you will write. Writing the letters without sending them will have the same psychological healing effect on you as would any kind of confrontation without the risks.

You may wish to write just one letter or you may feel the need to write many letters over a period of time. The number of letters that one writes varies from person to person and is not important. What is important is that you express yourself through the writing of a non-sent letter to those who have caused harm to you.

If during the writing process you feel overwhelmed with emotion simply pause and let the emotions come. Sometimes we are full of unexpressed thoughts and feelings from our past. Maybe we weren’t allowed to cry or express certain emotions as a child and those unexpressed feelings have been pent up inside of us for years.

Let the emotions flow out of you. Set the feelings of hurt, pain and anger free once and for always. Doing this via the letter writing process can have enormous healing value to those who have been hurt.