Journaling About Trauma: Writing to Heal

What Is Journaling?

Journaling or expressive writing means jotting down your thoughts and feelings about a specific event, series of events, or interactions.  Journaling for mental health is a perfect practice for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex trauma because they have a space to process emotions without inhibition and fear of judgment. Writing gives survivors a place to say what is often unsayable.

Benefits of PTSD Journaling

Journaling about trauma has many benefits. Repressing and suppressing emotions can harm the body, sometimes resulting in anxiety disorders, depression, or certain illnesses.  Writing is a form of cathartic release as you empty yourself of trauma blocked inside the body, thus reducing overwhelm and fostering a sense of vitality.

Trauma can often mimic symptoms of ADHD, such as poor concentration or difficulty focusing. Organizing your thoughts in a journal allows you to regain clarity and combat cognitive dysfunction associated with trauma. Then, you can create a new narrative for your life, one in which you prevail as the hero of your own story.

Below are some of the benefits of journaling about trauma:

• Offers access to your inner world of feelings
• Provides a safe and judgment-free place to express feelings without worrying about what others might think
• Decreases anxiety by placing your scattered thoughts and emotions in one visible space
• Increases resilience, empowerment, and psychological well-being when reflecting on your strengths throughout your journey

Steps for Journaling for Trauma

When journaling about trauma, first purchase a medium that speaks to you. This way, writing feels inviting, and the journal becomes a sacred space for your innermost thoughts. Because trauma and suppressed emotion stay stuck in the body, the act of physically moving your hand across the paper helps release distressing memories and thoughts into a confined, safe space.

Below are seven steps for journaling about trauma:

1. Create a Sacred Space for Writing

Your writing place should be somewhere you feel safe, comfortable, and nourished. For example, your bed, surrounded by cozy pillows and blankets, is a great place to start. Wherever you begin, make the space sacred to YOU. Light a candle, brew a cup of herbal tea, and have a box of tissues on hand if your writing brings up tears.

2. Start With Free Form Writing

Write continuously without stopping to edit, re-read, or change anything. Free-form writing is best, as doing so allows you to express yourself uncensored. Have a list of journal prompts handy for those days when you feel stuck.

3. Refrain From Self-Blame or Self-Criticism

Remember, journaling gives voice to your innermost thoughts and emotions.  Writing is a tool for your well-being, not for beating yourself up! Keep your journal handy to jot down thoughts that arise throughout your day. If your journal feels too big or bulky, keep a smaller notebook to expand upon later when you have time for writing.

4. Think & Reflect

Journaling about trauma has no rules. Sometimes, you may feel like simply writing about your life–that is okay. However, you have to be careful about falling into a pattern of distracting yourself from your pain and suppressing emotions.

When feeling emotionally numb or disconnected from yourself, try to conjure an image of yourself as a child or reflect on an old photo. Connecting with a past experience and accessing suppressed emotions is easier if you visualize yourself before the event.

Another helpful practice for journaling about trauma is practicing gratitude. Ending your day by writing three things you appreciate can help you feel a sense of hope and keep you from becoming mired in victimhood.

Here are some trauma journaling prompts to get you started:

• What has been my greatest wound?
• What has been the greatest obstacle in my life?
• What do I need to say goodbye to?
• What have I been carrying for far too long?
• What shame do I carry in my body and soul?
• What keeps me stuck and unable to move forward?
• What gift has come with my greatest wound?

5. Create & Prioritize the Time for Journaling

Consider beginning your day with a half hour of journaling. Emptying your mind of scattered thoughts and emotions allows you to start each morning with a clean slate. Giving yourself ample time to write is essential. Focused attention in a sacred space allows a more authentic expression of your inner feelings than rushing to jot things down. Alternatively, journaling before bed can help you make sense of emotions that have arisen throughout your day.

6. Read What You Wrote

Going back through your journal and reading what you wrote can be a helpful part of your healing process. Suppressing emotions is a hard-to-kick habit. However, re-visiting your entries can keep you present with your feelings while giving them a safe place to live. Another benefit is seeing how far you have come on your healing journey.

7. Create a Plan for Managing Distressing Thoughts & Feelings

Allowing yourself to write about traumatic experiences will bring up painful emotions. This response is typical and expected, so allow yourself to feel everything. Let yourself cry, punch a pillow, or scream if doing so feels right. You can also call a friend or family member for support or sit with a beloved pet for comfort.  Slow, deep breathing can help calm the nervous system if you feel too overwhelmed.

Finding Ways to See the Positive

All of us will suffer in some way at some point in our lives. Journaling about our pain allows us to feel safe, stronger, and more resilient than ever. Once you have processed your trauma, you may begin to consider what the experience has given you. Are you particularly intuitive and good at offering solace to others?  Can you remain calm when others are activated? Asking yourself these questions can help facilitate post-traumatic growth and further well-being.

When to Seek Professional Help

Journaling helps you manage feelings around trauma but is not a substitute for therapy.  Most often, trauma occurs in a relationship with someone else, perhaps a parent, caregiver, or romantic partner. A tremendous amount of healing can occur within the therapeutic relationship. In fact, the most important factor in whether or not treatment will be successful is the client-therapist alliance. Learning you can rely on someone to hold space for you in a loving and non-judgmental way is paramount to healing from any trauma. 

Therapy for addressing trauma may include:

• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR for PTSD focuses on moving the eyes in a specific way while processing traumatic memories to desensitize individuals, ultimately decreasing trauma symptoms.
• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT): Trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT) focuses on the effects trauma-related thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes have on your sense of well-being.
• Prolonged exposure (PE):  Prolonged exposure therapy helps individuals approach their traumatic-related memories and feelings slowly and gently. The individual gradually learns their trauma-related memories are not dangerous.
• Online therapy options: Making an appointment with a therapist can be difficult.  However, online therapy for trauma and PTSD can be a viable option for those who otherwise might not have access to mental health resources.
• Narrative Therapy: Narrative therapy helps survivors process traumatic memories and reframe their experiences to empower themselves and reclaim their sense of personal authority.
• Somatic Therapy: Somatic therapy is a broad term to describe therapies that utilize the body-mind connection to release trauma from the body. Common examples include trauma-informed yoga, tapping, and grounding techniques.