Therapy Journal Prompts and Books

May 5, 2021 7:37 AM

I'm restarting therapy (huzzah!) and I'm determined to put in the work this time. The problem is that I'm not great at processing and speaking to my emotions generally, but I've found a good groove during covid journaling and reading books on a variety of topics. Is there a book or website with good journal prompts to help me do some of that work? Any great therapy adjacent books you would recommend?

Helping me to process my emotions and identify problem areas (or areas of improvement) to explore is the main goal. A second goal is to find ways to get the most out of therapy through work on my own. I know my therapist will recommend processes, too, but I'm aiming to do extra work. I got the book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone as a lark just because I heard her on This American Life, and it made me wonder what books have been helpful for other people while they've been in therapy.

posted by glaucon to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

Best answer: I really enjoy this article for more about the potential impacts of journaling for mental health, and it has some great prompts and ideas too! Have you used an emotions wheel before? It can be useful in helping identify words for specific feelings.
posted by Mouse Army at 8:01 AM on May 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I know several productive people who start their day doing the "morning pages" exercise from Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way". Others use the book to unblock creative blocks and then go back to their previous practice. I think the book is worth a read, just ignore the references to spirituality if they're not of use to you.
posted by AuroraSky at 8:08 AM on May 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

Following AuroraSky's recommendation: if you are interested in Cameron's Morning Pages, she has written a short book just on that subject. eBook only' no print edition.
posted by sincarne at 3:51 AM on May 7, 2021 [1 favorite]