Use Journaling to Fight Alcohol Addiction

Journaling is a great way to process your recovery. It gives you the opportunity to vent about things that upset you in a productive way that doesn’t hurt your chances of making the situation better, explore your feelings about different options and future possibilities and to work through issues related drug and alcohol addiction recovery. Here are a few journaling ideas to get you started after drug rehab:

• Ask yourself a question. Pick a theoretical question, any question, and run with it. Does God exist? Is chocolate and marshmallow as good as chocolate and peanut butter? Is attitude important in getting what you want in the world? Whatever your question, explore your thoughts on the issue.
• Make a to-do list. Whether it’s a list for the grocery store, errands you need to run, people you need to call, or a combination, if you’ve got your journal with you, you may as well use it to help you get things done.
• Work the steps. If you attend 12-step meetings, journals are a great resource as you work the steps. You are often asked to assess your part in a particular issue or list people you need to make amends to or to explore past events. Even after you’ve worked the steps, you can always revisit the 4^th step or others that held meaning for you when the situation arises.
• Vent about something that bothers. Irritations will happen. People will piss you off. Rather than taking it out on them and making the situation worse, vent about it in your journal. It’s a much better outlet than relapsing.
• Talk about what happened in therapy. Personal therapy and group therapy sessions are great resources in recovery. Each session can give you a lot of food for thought. It will help you to make progress in your treatment as you work through what was discussed, be able to look back on what has happened in sessions, and create a plan for future sessions.
• Map out a budget. Money is of constant concern to most people, but when you’re in recovery is can be a high-priority focus. Use your journal to map out your budget and figure out how to manage your money now that you aren’t spending every cent on drugs and alcohol.
• Draw. Drawing pictures of what you see around you or abstract pictures that define your thoughts can be extremely therapeutic. Use your journal to draw with pencils, inks or even experiment with watercolors.
• Take pictures. Photography offers the same therapeutic effect as drawing and writing. Explore your view of the world and include some of your favorite shots in your journal.

Women are creative beings and using journals to explore different modes of creativity is an a great way to discover your authentic self in recovery. How will you use your journal to progress after drug and alcohol rehab?