By Freelance Writer Denise Turney

Journal writing is self-expression that heals. Why? Your defenses may be lower while you write in your personal journal. Write about an upcoming meeting with your manager where your workload will be discussed and you might feel empowered. On the other hand, if you had to speak with your manager face-to-face about your growing work responsibilities, you might do more than feel anxious.

Are You Employing Any of These Defense Mechanisms?

You might employ one or more defense mechanisms. For instance, you might project unconscious feelings of inadequacy because you’re speaking with someone in authority. This could mirror how you felt insignificant while addressing a challenge with your parents when you were a kid. Although the players are different, you’re projecting your feelings about talking about uncomfortable topics with your parents onto your manager at work.

Other defense mechanisms journal writing could free you from include:

• Denial – Turning away from the “real” issue, striving to convince yourself that the problem doesn’t exist.
• Repression – Akin to denial, repression involves an unwillingness to face and deal with a situation. However, instead of simply denying that the problem is there, you push the problem so deep inside your unconscious mind that it may never surface clearly enough for you to recognize the issue and take effective steps to heal.
• Disassociation – A simple definition of disassociation is to “separate from reality”. If you daydream a lot, forget large gaps of time or you feel detached from what you’re experiencing, you could be practicing disassociation. Like other defense mechanisms, disassociation is largely unconscious.
• Rationalization – In place of accepting the truth about what you or someone has said or done, you rationalize why something was said or done. An example of this is if your partner strikes you and you tell yourself (or a friend), “My partner hit me because her father had alcoholism and was physically violent with her when she was a kid.”

Be Honest with Yourself

Another often used defense mechanism is avoidance. This is an area where journal writing can produce great results. After all, while you’re writing in your journal, you are facing what’s going on.

At some level, you are acknowledging what has happened or what is in the process of happening. The closer you get to what’s really happening, the closer you can get to your core.

Stated another way, avoiding or denying your feelings, thoughts or experiences takes you away from healing. Hence, at the heart of journal writing that taps into your core is a compelling desire to be honest with yourself.

Surface Journal Writing

This isn’t to say that this honesty is always easy. But it is worth it. If you find self-honesty particularly difficult, start small. Start near the surface. Write about a color that you like. As a start, write about the color orange, red, blue or yellow.

More surface level journal writing prompts to help you relax into writing until you tap into your core include:

• Writing in your journal about your last visit to the grocery store – How big was the store? What did you buy? Did you take advantage of price discounts?
• Using your journal to describe flowers or plants you tended to in your garden last weekend.
• Depict the last fun event that you attended with a friend.
• Share the first three words that pop into your mind as soon as you awaken.
• Look at a picture of a relative you know you can trust, someone who has proven that they love you with goodness and sincerity. Engage in journal writing to put on paper what you think about this person.

Spend two to three weeks engaging in surface journal writing. It should feel comfortable and non-invasive and non-threatening. Then, dig deeper through your writing, journeying toward your core.

Dig Deeper Thru Journal Writing

Ways to dig deeper through your writing include writing about your feelings in general. Then, writing about your feelings that are associated with a specific experience.

Go slowly. The aim is not to feel uncomfortable. Instead, the aim is to tap into your core. Ways to strengthen your efforts to reach your core, range from meditating three to five minutes before you start writing to doing 10 minutes of yoga after you write.

Despite your aim to reduce intense emotions, there are times when journal writing may cause you to feel excitement, anger, sorrow, hopeful, anxious, happy or a range of other strong emotions. Pause in your writing if emotions feel overwhelming or too strong.

Also, seek support from a licensed, ethical and effective psychotherapist if needed. Keep writing in your journal. This very act could help you start to lower your defense mechanisms, opening you up to a world of healing.

So Many Benefits

If you keep writing, you can become aware of your defense mechanisms. Another benefit is that you can become aware of your true self. Proving to yourself that you can be trusted is another benefit. After you start trusting yourself, the courage to try new things might spike.

More benefits gained from journal writing to tap into your core are:

• Improved memory as you start to recall details the longer you write about a specific topic
• Stronger creative writing abilities
• Deeper learning of the world around you and how you interact with the world
• Appreciation for yourself, others and your environment
• Increased peace

You could also discover love-based ways to deal with conflicts and challenges. Byproducts of this could be sleeping better at night, healthier eating and drinking habits and a willingness to make better friends. This means saying good-bye to people who abuse you and welcoming people who sincerely love and care about you.

However long it takes, you’ll know when journal writing helps you tap into your core. And you’ll learn a lot about yourself, how amazing, how wonderful, you truly are. Again, the more you learn about your true self, the less you will tolerate abuse. After a while, you won’t tolerate unkindness for any reason. You’ll love yourself more and more.

Resources:

1. 10 defense mechanisms and how to overcome them | Tony Robbins
2. Dissociation | Psychology Today