As a therapist, you probably speak with your clients about the importance of self-care. Everyone needs to take active measures to stay physically, mentally and emotionally healthy. Therapists especially know how critical self-care is for their clients. Self-care is just as important for you, too.
If you’re a therapist, dedicating time to self-care is not a luxury or a treat. It’s a necessary part of your practice. Therapists and others in helping professions are especially prone to burnout because they take on the emotional struggles of their clients. Plenty of research shows the benefits of self-care for therapists and the risks of not engaging in self-care. Without a consistent, effective self-care routine, the emotional stress of your work can take a toll on your professional success as well as your personal well-being.
Self-care can be different for everyone, but a self-care journal is one of the best ways to maintain your mental health as a therapist. Journaling is an excellent outlet to release the thoughts or feelings that weigh on your mind while maintaining your privacy. A self-care journal also creates a clear and tangible record of your emotions and experiences, which allows you to look back and find patterns and insights.
There isn’t one tried-and-true journaling practice that works best for every therapist. Instead, you can try a variety of styles in your self-care journal until you find the method that is the most helpful for your mental health.
Here Are Six Suggestions for Keeping a Self-care Journal as a Therapist:
1. Release the Secondary Trauma
Secondary or vicarious trauma can be a serious problem for mental health professionals. If you’re a therapist who works with trauma survivors, you may be at an especially high risk of developing post-traumatic stress symptoms after hearing your clients’ stories.
People receive therapy because they’re struggling with something, and therapists are very empathetic by nature. When you hear your clients speak about their challenges, you may feel the weight of it even after the session has ended. Your self-care journal can be an opportunity to release these feelings before they build up and cause you to burn out.
If you choose to focus on your secondary trauma in your journal, explore your thoughts and emotions related to the experience. You could do this at the end of your work day to clear your mind before going home. If you have time between sessions, write a quick journal entry immediately after an emotional or difficult session to give yourself a clean slate for your next client.
2. Focus on Gratitude
Some people prefer keeping a gratitude self-care journal instead of journaling about their experiences or feelings. If you need to purge the heavy emotions associated with your work as a therapist, gratitude journaling may not provide you with the relief you need. However, it can be a great form of self-care as it calls your attention to the positives in your life.
Keeping a gratitude journal is also less time-consuming than other forms of journaling, so it’s a good option if you’re looking for a quick practice to add to your self-care routine. Every day, write down one or two things you’re grateful for. These could be related to your personal or your professional life. Full sentences are not required. Bulleted gratitudes are absolutely sufficient! Some people choose to keep a journal where they bullet point 5 gratitudes in the morning and another 5 before they go to bed, bookmarking their days with what they deem as good.
3. Separate Your Personal and Professional Journals
You might keep a self-care journal only related to your professional experiences, or you might like journaling about your personal life, too. However, it may be helpful to separate your personal and professional journals to maintain the boundary between your work and home life.
Being able to detach from your work and focus on yourself is an essential part of self-care for therapists. If you mix your personal and work-related journals, you may find yourself lingering on your therapy work when you should be focusing on other aspects of your life. If you find this to be the case, try keeping a separate self-care journal for professional and personal experiences. You could keep your professional journal in your desk at work to uphold that boundary.
4. Be Artistic
Your self-care journal doesn’t have to be academic, literal, or clinical. It could be an opportunity to be creative in your self-expression. Sometimes, trying to articulate your emotions in words feels impossible. In these moments, taking an artistic approach may be more effective.
The creative possibilities for your journal are endless. You could use a combination of text and artwork, or you could use only visuals to express yourself. You could draw, or you could create a collage or scrapbook out of photos or graphics. Not only is this a helpful way to express your emotions, but the process of putting the artwork together can be very soothing.
5. Don’t Worry about Perfection
No one is going to see your self-care journal but yourself, so it doesn’t have to be perfect. Try not to get caught up in your word choice or grammar, and don’t worry about your handwriting. Your journal should be your chance to express yourself without a filter, and editing your thoughts will only lead to an inauthentic result. If you remove the pressure on yourself to create the perfect journal, the practice will feel much less intimidating and time-consuming.
Writing without worrying about perfection will benefit you as you look back on past journal entries, too. You can reflect on the way you wrote the entries in addition to the content itself to see how you were thinking and feeling. There’s a lot of truth to the concept: “don’t let perfection be the enemy of good.” (Voltaire)
6. Be Mindful of Confidentiality
Therapists know the importance of confidentiality in their work, and this applies to your self-care journal as well. Avoid mentioning names, initials, or other identifying information in your journal entries. Unfortunately, there’s always a chance that another set of eyes will see your journal, so be sure to protect your clients’ privacy.
Instead of rehashing the details of what happened during your sessions, focus on the thoughts and emotions behind the experiences. Also, try to focus the entries on yourself and not on your clients Your journal is your place to reflect on your own thought processes.
Keeping a self-care journal can be a meaningful way to self-reflect, purge negative emotions, and maintain a healthy outlook on your career. Therapist burnout is a common struggle, but you can reduce your risk by regularly checking in with yourself. Try out a few different forms of journaling to discover the techniques that work best for you. Then, make journaling a regular part of your self-care routine to look after your mental health.
Blue Moon Senior Counseling offers therapy services for older adults experiencing depression, anxiety, stress, isolation, and many other concerns. Our therapists work hard to keep balance and maintain their own mental health. This is what makes them able to help others. If you or a senior loved one is interested in supportive mental health treatment, contact us today.