More Than Words: This One Habit Can Help Make Your Mental Health Treatment More Intentional

It often starts with a racing mind at the end of a long day. Thoughts replay, worries resurface, and calming your brain feels out of reach. You’ve probably picked up some coping mechanisms to help in these moments along the way, but how often do you pick up a pen and a journal? When you write about your thoughts and feelings, you're doing more than just recording your day. You're helping your brain process emotions, organize racing thoughts, and create an emotional distance from obstacles. 

When everything stays in our mind, it can feel loud and overwhelming. Journaling forces you to put words to what you’re experiencing, giving you a chance to step back and observe your thoughts instead of being stuck in them. When we have a better understanding of what we’re feeling - and why - it’s easier to cope. While helping to put words to feelings, the repetitive writing motions can also activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This subconsciously slows your breathing and heart rate helping you to physically shift from stress and anxiety to a calmer state. This becomes especially powerful when paired with treatments that enhance neuroplasticity, like ketamine and Spravato.

As we learned in one of our last blogs, How Ketamine Works In The Brain, ketamine creates a unique window of opportunity for healing. Journaling before a session can give you a chance to set your intentions and keep your focus before you enter the neuroplastic window. During the course of your treatments you most likely have experienced insights that feel profound, or fresh perspectives that feel vivid but can slip away like dreams. Journaling after a treatment can create a permanent record of these moments that feel fleeting post treatment. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Stream of consciousness, bullet points, or even sketches all work, the goal is simply to capture the experience while it's fresh. These passages can be useful for integration; you can reference your journal during therapy as a jumping off point, or for help making sense of what you experienced and why it could be pertinent. 

Journaling is one of those tasks that feels so easy on the surface but can be daunting to start. The goal is for journaling to feel supportive, not stressful. Here are some easy tips to help get started: 

- Let go of ‘doing it right’: There’s no correct format to journal. Grammar doesn’t matter, repetitive or incomplete thoughts are completely fine, you don’t even need to use sentences or words. Writing in a notebook, voice to text in a notes app, drawing in a sketch book- it all counts!

- Don't force it: You don’t need to journal for hours every day, start with what feels achievable. Journaling a few times a week, or only when you feel you need it, is still effective.

- Remember your journal is only for you: This should be a space for you to be real, not polished. Honesty is where the benefits come from. This can be challenging at first, starting with keeping a neutral outlook is a great step.

- Use prompts if you're stuck: Prompts remove the pressure of figuring out where to start. Choose a time when your mind is quieter and pick a prompt, like ‘What is taking up space in my mind right now?’  

- End with something grounding: Try finishing with a deep breath, a kind sentence to yourself, or one thing you are grateful for.

As you know, at Imagine Healthcare we believe in treating the whole person and providing you with tools that support lasting change. Journaling is one of those tools - accessible, powerful, and completely yours to shape however feels right. So grab a notebook, open a notes app, or find whatever works for you. Your first entry can be as simple as ‘I’m starting today’ and that's enough. From there, just keep showing up for yourself. 

If you're looking for inspiration be sure to find us on social media, we regularly share journal prompts to help keep your practice fresh!