This post will explain why I love this journal for my clients to support them during their therapy journey, and I will also cover who I believe this journal will serve the best.
The lovely Natalie created this workbook to support her own mental health. I came across her on instagram @dharma_not_drama and was curious to see what her range of workbooks, journals and planners was like as I was intrigued that they were designed specifically to support mental health - I am always on the look out for good resources such as these to share with clients.
Natalie was generous enough to send me a copy of this workbook but rest assured, all views are my own honest opinions. I haven't commented on every section as I don't feel it's necessary but I have picked out the parts I believe it useful to highlight below:
About the book:
The exercises and sections throughout are clearly explained and can benefit everyone to include into their self-care/wellness box.
The goals section is fantastic from the perspective of tracking therapeutic progress because you will clearly see how your goals change over time. Not every therapeutic approach will ask you your goals but most likely you will have your own and this would be a lovely place to track them.
The coping skills tracker is a fantastic reminder space for your various skills to deal with different situations, emotions, thoughts and behaviours. As a therapist, it is crucial such skills are highlighted and/or developed during sessions to equip the client with long-term resiliency and make the likelihood that they should need therapy for mental health reasons less likely in the future. Having a log of these is something I always encourage as sometimes it's hard to remember every technique you may discover or learn during therapy and the log would be a powerful reminder for you to review as necessary.
The triggers and remedies section is also useful for the same purpose as the coping skills section and Natalie gives helpful examples too.
The important contacts section is very useful for you to use as a log space for those who can provide support in some form to you, whether this is people you know or become aware of, or organisations. I would also encourage you to write what support it is they can provide if it's not already obvious from the name.
The crisis care plan is an essential section for those seeking therapy for mental health reasons and would be your one stop shop if you felt you were entering into a crisis. I love that Natalie has included this section.
Of course, a great strength of this book for use in therapy is the specific therapy log section to track what you have discussed and explore your feelings and monitor progress. To read why I recommend journaling during therapy, please see this blog here.
Who do I believe it would best suit:
I believe this would be a great first journal to accompany most everyone on their initial wellness journey with a counsellor, psychotherapist or mental health coaching therapist. This is because of it's simple overall structure and the useful exercises and sections contained within.
This workbook I think would definitely appeal to someone taking a medication or supplement to help with their mental health because of the tracking section specifically for this. Alternatively though, this section could be useful for those on medications which are for physical conditions to see how it links to their mental/emotional wellbeing, or those using a new hormonal birth control, or even taking various supplements to help manage PMS/PMDD.
Thank you for reading - Love Sophie xo
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