Journalling is a very effective, yet simple everyday practice. Journaling involves writing down feelings and thoughts which helps understand them more clearly. This is remarkably beneficial for an adolescent that struggles with mental health. Journaling helps them gain control of emotions and improves their overall mental health.

Journalling is something I’ve used that has drastically improved my mental health. Through writing I discovered patterns I was previously unaware of. Through comparison of daily and monthly entries I was able to understand and ultimately change my feelings for the better. One benefit of journaling is that it gives us insight and awareness of ourselves. Having self-awareness yields a better understanding of our shortcomings and things we should improve to become happier. By teaching adolescents journaling it gives them efficacy to take control of their life.

Oppose to parents and teachers constantly telling adolescents what they need to improve on, it can be empowering for an adolescent to figure it out for themselves through writing. What’s great is that journaling can be as simple as writing a paragraph every night about your day and your feelings about it. Then once your adolescent gets a hang of it then you can start introducing them to different practices that can help them.

Self Talk is another positive benefit of journaling. Adolescents that struggle with mental health tend to have intrusive thoughts that can harm their self esteem. Journaling helps them practice being kind, understanding and supportive towards oneself. When one writes in their journal they essentially are writing to themselves and eventually they become supportive towards themselves because it is like confiding in a friend. Writing down your thoughts and opening up to oneself in a journal can lead to improvements in one's self talk.

Next, journaling helps us work through everyday emotions and thoughts. Many times we can have an emotional day but we don’t do anything to release those emotions so they just carry on into the next day. What's great is that journaling everyday can help release any emotions or thoughts we had that day and allow us to start fresh the next day! Adolescents who are experiencing mental health challenges experience lots of intense emotions on a daily basis thus understanding and releasing these emotions is very beneficial. Lastly, journaling is a safe place for adolescents to express themselves.

Mental illnesses can feel isolating and confusing thus having a place to express oneself that is free from judgement is very needed. Finally, journaling is very simple, it doesn’t take up much time, it is not costly and it is a lifelong skill adolescents can use to support themselves with any challenges they are faced with.

Benefits of journaling:

- Promotes self Awareness

- Promotes positive self talk

- Helps us work through everyday emotions

- Strengthens relationship with self

- Safe place to express oneself

- Simple yet effective