Writing it Out: Journaling as an Adjunct to Therapy is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that discusses why and how to use journal writing as a therapeutic tool.

Using journal writing as an aid to the therapeutic process is not an unfamiliar idea. Keeping a journal has been practiced by patients of cognitive therapists in an attempt to help identify and correct negative thought patterns, by Jungians to record dreams, and in the Japanese Morita therapy for the treatment of neurosis. Sigmund Freud professed his belief in the diary as “a key to the psyche” in his preface to Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl.

While most psychotherapy is conducted through traditional “talking therapy,” having a client express himself through the written word offers another way to let him vent his thoughts and feelings, and to gain information about his internal and external experiences of life. Journaling also fosters self-awareness in the client, and helps to develop and nurture a relationship between each client and himself. This course includes descriptions of the various uses of journaling as well as detail on seven journal-writing techniques that you can use with clients.

Closeout Course #20-13 | 2003 | 21 pages | 12 posttest questions