Writing for Emotional Balance: A Guided Journal to Help You Manage Overwhelming Emotions

The practice of keeping a journal is increasingly being recommended by therapists and other health care professionals as a tool for gaining a better understanding of one s life situations and corresponding emotions. In this book, Jacobs provides readers with a progressive, step-by-step guide for doing so easily and effectively. Journals, she writes, are "a checkpoint between your emotions and the world," that enable us to view our feelings from a distance, and to become clearer about the beliefs and attitudes that shape them.

Beginning with an explanation about the value of keeping a journal, Jacobs then guides readers through various processes to clarify our understanding of the subjective nature of emotions and how they are influenced by time and memory. Readers then learn how to define and evaluate their emotions, predict their emotional patterns, release emotions that no longer serve them, and refocus and organize their emotional life in ways that are more appropriate and fulfilling. Supported by over 30 hands-on exercises, this guide is an excellent resource for novice and seasoned journalists alike.--Larry Trivieri Jr.