Journaling can help us express emotion. It’s always better to name our hard feelings than to push them down or lock them up. Naming hard feelings actually makes them smaller, not bigger.
Journaling can help us recognize patterns: are there experiences or people that are consistently making us feel stressed or anxious?
Journaling can be a place where we don’t worry about being perfect or making mistakes but we allow ourselves to let our thoughts flow freely -- which may be hard in other parts of our lives.
Journaling can help us feel like we have some control over our emotions, not just them having control over us.*