Author: Hannah Gantt, LPCC
Ketamine therapy is a profound and rewarding experience. Journaling provides a way to make sense of the tough emotional and psychological insights that can arise during each session, and it’s an important tool when pursuing ketamine therapy online.
Throughout history, journaling has been used by great minds to help them reflect on their world and thoughts. Leonardo da Vinci had over 5000 pages of journal entries collecting his ideas and observations. Other notable journalers include Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie and Maya Angelou.
These great minds discovered one simple truth: journaling can help you clarify thinking and bring an order to your thoughts.
Let’s look at how journaling works, why it’s important, and the steps to starting your own journaling practice to use in conjunction with your ketamine prescription.
Why Journaling Is So Effective
Sometimes, thoughts and feelings can get stuck within our bodies until we express them. Journaling proves to be an amazing and effective outlet. Studies have shown that some of the benefits of writing include coping with stress, easing anxiety, and promoting immune cell activity. And according to psychologist and avid writer Dr. James Pennebaker, journaling can decrease blood pressure, alleviate depression, and improve sleep patterns.
While in the process of writing, it’s easier to push past mental blocks and get to the root of what you’re experiencing. In other words, writing helps you to better understand yourself, others, and the world around you. If undertaken thoughtfully, it can be a source of conceptual development and a stimulus for the brain’s highest cognition.
But don’t confuse it with keeping a diary. Whereas a diary is a record of daily events, journaling is the process of focusing more on your internal landscape, often using questions as prompts.
The Benefits of Journaling After Psychedelic Therapy
During a ketamine session, you’ll be accessing parts of the unconscious mind you normally can’t touch. It may be a lot to process all at once. The act of writing down what you discover will allow you to remember important insights and come to a deeper understanding about the entire experience.
Establishing a consistent journaling routine is critical. Otherwise, you might miss seeing the bigger picture of patterns affecting your life. Also, the revelations uncovered during a session may get lost in daily distractions.
The benefits of journaling after ketamine therapy include:
There are two journaling strategies that are used in conjunction with ketamine therapy: reflection and integration. Reflective journaling is the act of recording your thoughts and using prompts to explore your experiences further. Integration journaling involves writing about how your reflections or insight can be applied to your daily life.
It is vital to journal immediately after each session so you can reflect. Set aside 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to record what you’re currently feeling. This will help you create a more accurate picture of your experience and provide better information for future reflections.
Here are some prompts to get you started:
The next step is to journal every day (preferably in the morning) for at least a week after each session. This is part of integration. You’ll soon have a record and clear picture of any emotions and thoughts that are recurring, and you can consider ways that your life is changing from going through ketamine therapy online.
When writing, don’t be concerned with grammar or spelling. Let whatever thoughts you have flow out of you. Be honest and don’t hold back. After all, it’s your journey. All that matters is that you do it every day because being consistent will make the biggest impact on your life.
Please visit our Members Portal for journal prompts.
