Journals 

There are many ways to keep a personal journal. It can be a diary, notebook, tablet, laptop etc, it can be whatever you want it to be. There is no wrong way to journal. Journalling is a great therapy activity for adults and children of all ages. Young children especially can gain a lot out of it, particularly if they start in their early years. 

Journalling can be structured with specific topics and objectives, or unstructured and open-ended to process thoughts, explore issues, or record creative self-expression. It provides a safe place where children can express themselves freely and confidentially, it's also a very powerful tool for them to reinforce what they’ve learned in counselling. It helps them to organise their jumbled thoughts, express their confusing emotions and feelings, and reflect on their concerns. Just by writing things down, forces their mind to process and clarify meaning, encouraging deeper understanding of their situation, and looking for opportunities for learning. 

Children develop great critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they reflect on their journalling. It helps them to gain values and understand other perspectives. They make connections between previous and new knowledge and learn from their past experiences and mistakes. They develop coping strategies and build resilience to face difficult challenges in the future by working through problems. 

Emotion suppression is not good for children. Journaling can be a great source of comfort for them as they express their emotions, both positive and negative ones. Expressive writing helps them to process and reflect on difficult emotions, make sense of life events, and understand themselves better. An obvious benefit of journalling is it provides children with an opportunity to practice and improve their creative writing, reading and communication skills. This is particularly beneficial for children who struggle with any of these skills. 

Self-reflection is a major part of journalling. Self-reflection is looking back on what has occurred with the goal of self-evaluation and personal growth. As children grow, so do their characters, journalling promotes self-reflection that helps them develop self-awareness and a deeper connection to themselves. 

As described above, there are many great benefits to keeping a journal. Two other very important benefits are mental health and physical health. Journalling enhances mental wellbeing ​by improving moods, reducing stress, and increasing self-esteem​. Over time, stress reduction results in a healthier immune system​ and fewer physical illnesses.