Where this Journaling "thing" all Began 

     My own personal relationship with a journal began when I was in fifth grade.  My parents moved our family away from the horrors and threats of the big city to the small town conservativeness of where they had grown up.  One of the perks of this move was that I received the white French - Provincial bedroom set (complete with canopy bed) that I’d always wanted.  Amongst the furniture I received was a desk.  My mother purchased a princess desk set from JC Penney to adorn this desk.   This set included a Princess desk pad, a feather pen, and a diary complete with lock and key.  That princess diary was the beginning of my journaling days. 

     If I am in the mood for some lighthearted amusement, I actually take this diary out and read it.  Within its pages are contained the deepest feelings of a fifth grader. Boys I had a crushes on and the other boys who were being “jerks”.  You will find homework I complained about versus did, and musings about what I would be doing in the future.  I used this tool when my best friend Cindy died. 

     Back in the fall of 1994 I needed one more elective credit and to write my dissertation in order to complete my doctorate.  For the first time, my school was offering a class by a visiting professor on the use of an exercise called the “Early Recollection Reframe”.  For most of you this title is going to have little meaning, because at the time, it had little meaning for me.  It was a one credit, elective, weekend course.  This was exactly what I needed, so I signed up for the class.  Unbeknownst to me, I was registering for a writing class; a journaling class.  I was registering for the class that would put me smack dab into my life’s purpose.  (God truly works in mysterious ways.)  By the end of the class, I had approached Dr. Mary Frances Schneider, the instructor, and stated “There’s a dissertation in this work and I’m interested in writing it.”  There began my research on the use of journaling and the process of change, which I continue to this day.

     At the onset of my psychology career (like all new enthusiastic therapists with a new tool) I felt a strong need to show people (translated to “everyone I came into contact with”) how to use “my magic” tool to improve their lives.  When I first began doing writing/Journaling groups what I set forth to participants was the process of journaling itself.  If you attended my initial workshops and groups what you learned was a lot of different writing techniques and exercises.  There was value in this, but it wasn’t filling what I perceived as a void.  The sort of infamous self-help void created by  “just stop judging (or whatever behavior you are trying to change) and you’ll be fine” was still existent.  I would hear in my private practice that many of the books available (many which I recommended) were “good for creating awareness”, but how do you do this?  It became my desire to fill the space just beyond the STOP. the place where you actually need to figure out what to do and do it. 

     My work has shown me that many people desire to write or journal, but don’t.  I believe this is due for the most part on the notion or the judgment that there is a correct way or an incorrect way to journal.  This is a false belief.  There are many ways to journal.  There are many items with which to journal, and many exercises and uses for the journal.  Julia Cameron, author and creativity teacher, has written an excellent book on the topic of the do’s and don’ts of writing.  The book is called “The Right to Write ”.  In this book, Ms. Cameron takes on each of the “supposed to do rules” regarding writing.  She dismisses these opinions for the untruths they are.  She discusses directly the “should’s” of writing and very succinctly discusses that the only “should” for writing is to write.  I recommend this book to anyone interested in journaling, writing or any artistic creative activity.                                                     
                                                                                Michelle L. McClellan, Psy.D. ©