Through learning how to start and maintain a regular journaling habit, participants will develop new strategies for improving their own mental-wellbeing, discover useful problem-solving skills, and find strategies for identifying what problems they might want to share with others.
Workplace stress is at a 16-year high and mental illness is one of the major health challenges in Scotland, where one in three people are thought to be affected by a mental health problem each year. Journaling has been proven to have a positive effect on mental health. It is one of a group of therapies that provides an opportunity for people to reflect on and analyse their lives and the events and people surrounding them, and to get in touch with their feelings. It can also be used to problem-solve and to help people decide what problems they want to share with whom.
This course introduces learners to the benefits of journaling, before exploring a range of techniques that can help journalers tap into their feelings, thoughts, hopes and dreams. Learners experiment with automatic writing, where they are encouraged to write without worrying about making or fixing mistakes. They have a go at writing unsent letters, get an introduction to mark-making, and discuss issues around hiding and sharing their journals.
Journaling has also been used to great effect with literacies learners, providing them with a space to develop their own unique relationship with writing without worrying about the judgement of others. By developing a regular private writing habit, learners rediscover a joy in writing that might have been lost through bad experiences at school, college or the workplace.
This course can be run as a one-off session, short course or longer course. Some groups might want the tutor to help them form a journaling club to keep their practice going at the end of the sessions. Different topics can be covered to suit the needs and desires of workers in different workplaces. All learners will leave with a toolkit of exercises to keep their journaling practice going. Please get in touch with Bechaela Walker if you’d like to talk more about how we can shape this course to meet your needs: [email protected]