A Therapist recommends...

Welcome to this month’s “A Therapist recommends…”, my new blog post series in which I’m sharing books and all sorts of things which I have read or found helpful along the way, in the hope that you might find them helpful too or find something that resonates with you.

Please note that I do not receive anything for featuring any of the books or other items that I talk about in these posts- I’m simply sharing them with you because I have found them helpful, inspiring or comforting in some way and my hope is that you too might find something in these posts that helps you along the way.

A Therapist recommends… “Self Care Journal” by Clever Fox. Now I know there are a lot of self- care journals on the market and you might already have found one that you like and if so, that’s great, but if you haven’t or you want to give journaling a go, this is a good journal to start with.

It comes in a lot of different colours so you can choose your favourite shade. My husband actually bought me this as a gift, so you might also like to consider gifting this to someone special in your life.

The journal can be used over three months and you can start at any time. To begin with it has a section on self-reflection and a space to list the things that energise or drain you. For each day, you fill in your main goal, self-care act for the day, what you are feeling grateful for and an affirmation in the morning and reflect on your day in the evening.

The journal provides different questions for each evening to reflect on and you can spend as much or as little time on them as you like. Each week also provides a weekly exercise for you to try, for example going for a mindful walk, reflecting on your fears and scheduling your perfect day.

At the beginning and end of each month, there are also pages to reflect on what went well, what didn’t go so well, what you have learned and which areas of your life were lacking and why.

If you want to, you can also keep a note on your activity and energy levels and your mood.

The journal also has calendar pages at the beginning of each month so you can write down your appointments and the pages for each day provide a space for your daily appointments and to do list.

What I like about this journal is that it gently encourages you to reflect on your self-care and what kind of self-care activities work best for you or are the most enjoyable. I enjoy answering the daily evening questions which help me reflect or think about things I might not have thought about in a while. Taking some time at the end of the month to reflect on what has been happening and how I have felt, gives me a good insight into the areas of my life that might need a bit more attention the following month. The journal also comes with stickers - what’s not to love?!

You might find some of the questions challenging or triggering to answer, so please just do what feels right for you. You don’t have to fill in everything or answer every question if you don’t want to. There are some questions I have left blank because I don’t know the answer just yet or the question doesn’t quite resonate but that’s okay.

This is your journal, you can use it in whatever way you want. There is no right or wrong way. The journal does give you a framework and comes with a little booklet of guidance but as always, do what feels right for you.

#selfcare #selfcarejournal #mentalhealth #emotionalwellbeing #personalgrowth #therapy #counselling