Write Your Way to Healing With These 4 Journaling Tips
Author and youth advocate Nicole Russell’s new book will help people of all ages begin their journaling journeys
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In 2012, Nicole Russell’s mother became a foster parent to a four-year-old girl who suffered from severe night terrors, something not uncommon for children dealing with the foster system or homelessness. Witnessing the experience of her little sister gave Russell a radical idea.
“The thought of half a million children navigating the foster care system who might not have a teddy bear to hold on to or a parent to run to in the next room just didn’t sit right with me,” Russell told ZORA. In partnership with her mom, she started the Precious Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping children cope with fear and anxiety in healthy ways. “The number one tool that we promote is journaling. If a child doesn’t have someone to talk to, they can use that journal to express those emotions or thoughts onto paper at night but it can also help them with just processing how they’re feeling with things changing from day to day.”
“It feels good to get clear and see the words and understand everything that you’re feeling.”
Keeping a diary isn’t just for kids. Writing your thoughts in a journal can also help grown-ups deal with their stress and anxiety. Studies show that journaling can help you heal from trauma, strengthen your immune system, and even increase your IQ!
“Journaling is something that has shaped the way that I deal with all things in life,” Russell told ZORA and now she’s helping both children and adults write their way to healing with her new book, Write Here & Tear, a journal of her own design that offers a clean slate for the free flow of thoughts, emotions, and ideas.
You’re dealing with your own trauma, struggling through the confusing time that has been the year 2020 or if you just have something to get off your chest, you might want to consider putting it all down on the page. Russell…
