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

Jolie A. Doggett
ZORA

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Black woman mulling her thoughts as she writes in her journal while sitting at a table.
Photo: Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images

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.”

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