Reflective Journaling:
Reflective journaling is a powerful practice used in therapy, education, and personal growth to encourage deeper self-awareness, insight, and emotional processing. It involves regularly writing about your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and reactions in a way that promotes reflection and understanding.
What Is Reflective Journaling?
Reflective journaling is more than just recording events — it involves:
- Analyzing your thoughts and emotions
- Exploring your motivations and behaviors
- Learning from your experiences
- Noticing patterns in thinking and behavior
Benefits of Reflective Journaling
Enhances self-awareness — Helps identify core beliefs, biases, and emotional triggers.
Supports emotional regulation — Provides an outlet for processing emotions like anxiety, depression, or frustration.
Encourages personal growth — Facilitates goal-setting and recognition of progress.
Improves critical thinking — Promotes deeper analysis of thoughts and decisions.
Assists in therapy — Complements psychological treatment by making insights more accessible.
How to Practice Reflective Journaling
You can use simple prompts or structured techniques. Here’s a general format:
Describe the experience
- What happened? Where? Who was involved?
Express your thoughts and feelings
- What were you thinking or feeling at the time?
Analyze the experience
- Why did it affect you that way? What assumptions or patterns were present?
Draw conclusions
- What have you learned about yourself? About others?
Plan for future action
- How might you respond differently next time? What changes can you make?
Example Prompt Questions
- What was the most emotionally intense part of my day and why?
- What thought kept recurring today, and what does it say about me?
- How did I handle stress or disappointment today?
- When did I feel most like myself today?
Here are reflective journaling prompts specifically tailored to help process and understand anxiety and depression — both emotionally and cognitively. These prompts encourage compassionate self-inquiry, emotional awareness, and small steps toward healing.
For Anxiety
What triggered my anxiety today?
- Can I identify a specific event, thought, or environment?
What was I afraid might happen?
- Was this fear realistic or distorted?
How did my body feel during the anxious moment?
- What physical sensations did I notice?
What helped reduce my anxiety, even slightly?
- Was it breathing, distraction, talking to someone, etc.?
What would I say to a friend feeling the same way?
- Can I offer myself the same kindness?
What can I control about the situation?
- And what might I choose to let go of?
For Depression
How did I feel when I woke up today?
- What thoughts or emotions were present?
What small thing gave me even a hint of comfort or peace today?
- A moment, a sound, a gesture, etc.?
What thought or belief kept repeating itself today?
- Is it true? Is it helpful?
What do I need right now, emotionally or physically?
- What would help meet that need?
When did I feel most disconnected today?
- What might help me reconnect (to myself, others, nature)?
What’s one small thing I can do tomorrow that feels manageable?
- Even if it’s very small — like brushing my teeth or opening the window.
Combined Self-Compassion Prompts
- What would I say to my younger self who felt this way?
- Can I find one moment today where I showed courage, even if no one noticed?
mindfulness-based therapy
Great choice! Mindfulness-Based Therapy (like Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, MBCT) encourages non-judgmental awareness of the present moment — especially helpful for managing anxiety and depression. Here’s a reflective journaling prompt set designed specifically within a mindfulness-based framework:
Mindfulness-Based Reflective Journaling Prompts
(For Anxiety & Depression)
1. Present-Moment Awareness
What am I noticing right now — sensations, thoughts, or emotions — without trying to change them?
- Where in my body do I feel tension or discomfort?
- Are my thoughts racing, still, cloudy, or sharp?
- Can I describe my emotional state without labeling it good or bad?
2. Non-Judgmental Observation
What thoughts or feelings showed up today that I tried to avoid or push away?
- How did I react to those thoughts/feelings?
- Could I have let them pass like clouds in the sky?
3. Acceptance & Self-Compassion
In what moment today did I judge myself harshly?
- Can I reframe that moment with kindness?
- What would it look like to accept myself as I am right now?
4. Awareness of Triggers and Reactions
What external situation triggered emotional discomfort today?
- What was my automatic reaction?
- Was there a brief moment where I could have paused before reacting?
5. Letting Go
What am I holding on to that I no longer need?
- A belief? A worry? An expectation?
- Can I visualize gently setting it down, even for a moment?
6. Responding Instead of Reacting
Was there a moment today when I reacted automatically?
- How could I pause next time to respond more mindfully?
7. Moments of Gratitude or Peace
Did I notice a small moment of calm, gratitude, or beauty today?
- What was it? What did it feel like in my body and mind?
Mindfulness Journaling Practice Tips:
- Write slowly and intentionally, pausing between questions.
- Use breath awareness before and after journaling (e.g., 3 deep mindful breaths).
- Practice non-striving — you’re not trying to “fix” anything.
- End with gratitude, even if it’s simply: “I took time to care for myself by writing today.”
Shervan K Shahhian
LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 