Anxiety Therapy San Francisco 101: Journaling Tips to Soothe Anxiety
Anxiety Therapy San Francisco 101: Journaling Tips to Soothe Anxiety
You’ve been feeling worried, uneasy, and distressed more often than not. Things going on in your life are occupying your mind more than you think they should. Perhaps you’re looking for some ways to sort out your thoughts and decrease the mental stress and anxiety, but you don’t know where to start. I’m a San Francisco psychologist and in this blog post, I’m referring to one specific self-help approach to dealing with our thoughts, which is journaling.
Anxiety is a feeling of fear, worry, and sometimes dread, that can pervade our thoughts, our emotions, and we can even feel it in our bodies. Anxious thoughts tend to go through our minds, and we feel afraid and distressed. It causes us to not know what to do or be afraid of what’s about to happen. In our body, this can turn into stomach aches, headaches, muscle tightness, and even ulcers. Learn more about anxiety in this blog post Anxiety In San Francisco's Fast-Paced Professional World. Therapy In San Francisco, California. There are various ways to cope with anxiety. There are many things you can do for yourself. If you’re looking for anxiety therapy in San Francisco, you can contact me. I can help you learn many effective strategies to cope and reduce anxiety in a healthy way.
Learning how to use journaling effectively is a great way to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, organize how you think about the stressors in your life, which can allow you to take steps forward and enjoy more of your life without distressing anxiety.
Journaling helps to lessen your feelings of distress, get your thoughts out on paper, and even work out solutions for your challenges.
There are many ways to get started with journaling. The strategy you choose depends on you and what you want to accomplish.
In this post, we’re going to look at the easiest way to tackle your anxieties with journaling. You can use these strategies on a daily, weekly, or as-needed basis to handle anxious thoughts and feelings. And as a bonus, with less stress and anxiety, you will likely sleep better!
The first step to journaling is to write down your worrying thoughts and fears.
The first step in journaling to overcome anxiety is to grab a pen, a piece of paper, or your trusty laptop or phone, and begin writing down your worries. The aim isn’t to write with great prose. You’re probably not going to show this journal entry to anyone, anyway, so you don’t need to make it sound good. Instead, focus on letting all of your thoughts and feelings flow out naturally.
You can describe the events that you’re currently dealing with in your life and address all the negative thoughts that have been building up for you throughout the day. Think of it as purging all those dark thoughts and feelings, so you don’t have to keep them bottled up anymore. The more you can let out the better. You may find yourself repeating the same thoughts and lines, that’s ok because that’s what’s going through your mind.
Sometimes just the act of journaling your thoughts out can help you feel better, reduce worry and anxiety, and provide clarity on the matter, which allows you to make a decision and move forward. You may not even need to re-read it!
However, seeing your anxieties written down can help. It may make you realize some of the holes in your concerns and if they may be a bit exaggerated.
The second step to journaling is to read back what you wrote.
Once you’re done writing, you can review what you’ve written and reflect on your thoughts and feelings. You might ask yourself:
How likely is it that this will happen?
What’s a more realistic outcome for me?
What’s the worst-case scenario? How likely is it this will happen?
Could there be a better outcome than this and what might that look like?
What can I do to change my current circumstances in order to have a better outcome?
Try to avoid judging yourself or what you’ve written and instead be curious. Notice whether you might be looking at things in the wrong light and how to look at things from a different perspective.
Taking the time to sort through your thoughts in this way can help you to challenge the negative ideas that are causing the highest amounts of anxiety for you.
The third step to journaling is to focus on your strengths.
Focusing on your strengths is another way to help yourself look at the situation from a different perspective. You can journal about the strengths you have with regard to the problem or worries you identified in step one. We all have strengths, and they can help us to deal with a wide range of complicated situations. Ask yourself how your strengths can help you overcome the obstacles in your path right now. You can imagine a friend or loved one of yours was going through the same situation as you and feeling the same anxieties. What might you say to them to help them feel better?
Focusing on your strengths also means being able to recognize that even if the worst were to happen, that you’re resilient, and that you might be able to bounce back and be okay. You can create a plan for what you might do if different outcomes were to happen. What would be your next steps? Who would you ask for some help? How might this outcome potentially become something positive in your life?
FREE consultation call for anxiety therapy in San Francisco, California
Journaling can be a wonderful way to sort out our thoughts and get clarity, which can make use feel less stressed and anxious. However, it is not a replacement for therapy. Oftentimes, it helps to speak to a good anxiety therapist about what you’re going through. If you have any questions or are interested in a free consultation, contact me here. If I’m the right person to help you, I’d be happy to work with you. If I am not the right person for you, I do my best to help connect you with someone who is right for you.
Specialties include therapy for depression, anxiety, work stress, relationships, and life changes.
In Case You Missed It! Additional Blog Posts in this series:
Anxiety Therapy San Francisco 101: 9 Tips For Building Confidence In The Workplace
Anxiety Therapy San Francisco 101: 8 Self-Care Tips For Go-Getters To Reach Their Goals
Anxiety Therapy San Francisco 101: 9 Tips For Managing Anxiety In The Bay Area Professional Scene
Anxiety Therapy San Francisco 101: Busting 9 Myths About Anxiety
