Journaling is a really simple way to organise and express your thoughts and feelings. By writing them down, you have to pay attention to them, recognise them, and then order your thoughts to express them clealy.

By writing a journal, you're paying attention to your feelings, and what is causing them. By writing those things down, we can spot patterns in our feelings and thoughts, and that can help us develop coping strategies for when we encounter them in the future.

Getting in to the habit of journaling can be tough to start with. Firstly, you might feel a bit silly, or soft, for even considering writing down how you feel. If you do, try to remember how good it can feel to get something off your chest! Secondly, we can sometimes think "well, I've written that down and yes, I do feel better, so I don't need to carry on!" If you keep up the habit, you'll start getting more and more out of journaling. Writing regularly will help you to know yourself better, to understand your feelings, and to set boundaries for yourself.

Once you have a body of journal entries, you'll start to recognise repeating themes, recurring thoughts and emotions, and patterns in your responses. You might find out that the thing that's been worrying you isn't the kind of problem you think it is, or that the way you're thinking is a part of the problem. Using the Check-in tool and our CBT Assistant can help you recognise, modify and improve your responses and thought patterns about the things that cause you worry, anxiety or anger.