The Way of the Journal: A Journal Therapy Workbook for Healing [Paperback]

Kathleen Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1998

In The Way of the Journal, therapist and author Kathleen Adams, M.A. teaches her trademark approach to using reflective writing as a therapeutic process. Adams' ten-step "quick and easy" method was created to provide sexual abuse survivors and dissociative clients with ways to maximize structure, balance, and permission while minimizing overstimulation and overwhelming feeling. Developed while working with dissociative disorders patients at a national treatment center, The Way of the Journal can be used by all survivors, as well as anyone in pain who wishes to gain greater self-understanding. In a well-designed workbook format, The Way of the Journal teaches 10 fundamental journalkeeping skills that are helpful for those in treatment for a variety of emotional difficulties, and that are of particular benefit to people with dissociative diagnoses. Adams begins the workbook with exercises for short, contained journal entries and proceeds to demonstrate looser, open-ended journal writing techniques. All of these exercises can be completed in less than 30 minutes a day over a two-week period, giving the writer a concrete sense of progress and accomplishment. Each section is followed by "So, how was it?," an evaluation of the specific journal technique used, assisting clients and, if desired, their therapists in identifying which techniques will work best for them in ongoing journal therapy. The Way of the Journal finishes with a "Resources" chapter (including a significant list of other books on journal writing), 10 reasons why journal writing is a powerful aid to therapy, and journal therapy interventions for common clinical situations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Keeping a journal played a major role in my healing process. Thank you, Kay Adams, for offering The Way of the Journal as a guide for survivors, support people, or anyone seeking answers." --Marilyn Van Derbur, survivor advocate and founder of Survivors United Network

"The revised edition has many improvements that offer clear, thoughtful, and flexible ideas for journaling, embedded within a sophisticated approach to healing. Creativity, sensitivity and delight spring forth from every page!" --From the foreword by David Read Johnson, Ph.D.

From the Publisher

This book is published by the Sidran Foundation, a national nonprofit organization devoted to advocacy, education, and research in support of people with traumatic stress conditions. To learn more about the Sidran Foundation and our work, please visit our website at http://www.sidran.org.

Product Details

• Paperback: 83 pages
• Publisher: Sidran Press; 2nd edition (April 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962916420
• ISBN-13: 978-0962916427
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE "starter" book for anyone new to journaling-as-therapy, March 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Way of the Journal: A Journal Therapy Workbook for Healing (Paperback)

This is the book that got me started 5 1/2 years ago. I had been looking for a way to use my attraction to writing as a "way in" to my ongoing emotional process. This is the book that literally fell off the shelf into my lap. Filled with exercises that can be done over a two-week period, I blitzed through them all in two days. I was on my way and haven't stopped since. Writing has become my primary tool for self-help, comfort, inspiration, and connection.

The exercises in Way of the Journal are designed to help the reader (and journaler) identify which forms are of most direct benefit. Some people respond best to Alphapoems, others to the Five-Minute Sprint. Each structure is presented with the opportunity to experience it as well as to evaluate its effectiveness for the reader/writer. By the end, you have a clear understanding of what is and is not helpful to you, the individual.

In Way of the Journal, Adams taught me about containment. In process writing, I had been afraid of the intensity of my own emotions, afraid the writing would go too deep, leave me undone. Way of the Journal taught me to "dive deep and surface," to come up for air at regular intervals. And also to frame the emotional content of my writing within a structure that felt safer than free writing.

If you are just starting, this is the one to buy. If you need some exercises to "jump start" your writing, this is a great toolbox. If you want a list of outstanding references, check out the Bibliography.

Practical, well-researched, easy to use, an excellent reference for writers at any stage of development is their use of writing-as-process.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Difficult steps towards inner healing, May 15, 2000

By 

Janet C. Testoni (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the Journal: A Journal Therapy Workbook for Healing (Paperback)

Adams' book provides effective tools for people who are working through difficult life experiences, which may include the full gamut from childhood sexual abuse to living with AIDS. This workbook is intended to help the therapist work with the client to access hidden feelings or agendas that might otherwise go unnoticed, thereby accelerating the healing process. Many of the ideas employed in the workbook are modifications of Ira Progoff's journal writing process. Adams offers several creative ideas to help one get started and feel safe as he/she sits before a blank page for the first time. The journal writing exercises are broken down into ten days with exercises that begin with sentence stems, clustering, alpha poems, character sketches, dialogues and finish with more difficult writing exercises such as free writing and journal dialogue. Adams also offers suggestions for when to use exercises that would help them jump start the journaling process and get to the crux of one's feelings when moving through difficult issues or life experiences. I have used several of the techniques and exercises offered, taking the time to access and reflect upon the experience later. I found this approach very useful for uncovering feelings that I was not aware of while writing.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially helpful for people who get restimulated, February 3, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way of the Journal: A Journal Therapy Workbook for Healing (Paperback)

This book is especially helpful for people who are recovering from abuse and have a tendency to get restimulated when doing open-ended writing. The author focuses on teaching techniques that can be used to help provide safety and structure to make the process of journaling a healing rather than retraumatizing one. I'm finding it quite valuable and feel grateful to have discovered it.