Therapeutic Journaling Prompts

✾ How to Treat Yourself

1. How can I be kinder to myself: mentally, physically, etc. In what ways am I subconsciously attacking myself?
2. What are some things you don't like about yourself, and why?
3. What are some personality traits / qualities you wish you had.
4. What are some things you love about yourself? What are some things you dislike? Why do you think you dislike these qualities?
5. List a few of your coping mechanisms that make you feel bad or guilty. Why do they make you feel that way? What are you using them to cope with? Is there a healthier mechanism you would be using?
6. When was the last time you forgave yourself?
7. What unhealthy attachments (things, people, feelings, habits) do you hold onto? What fears do you have around ending these attachments? What do you gain by ending these attachments?
8. What relationships and friendships do you have that are unhealthy? How would your life improve/change if you let them go?
9. Do you reward yourself when you accomplish something productive?
10. Do you completely accept and love yourself the way that you are?
11. Do you over think, and what causes this? What happens when you start to overthink?
12. What's something you've REALLY wanted for a long time that feels out of reach to you? Why does it feel out of reach? Is it unrealistic or do you feel like you don't deserve it?
13. What animal(s) do you associate yourself with? What traits, positive and negative, do you associate with this animal?

✾ Trauma & Reactions

1. When was a time in your life where you opened up and felt rejected?
2. When was the last time you forgave yourself?
3. What negative emotions do you avoid? Why?
4. What were you like as a child?
5. What is the worst way someone could describe you?
6. What is your definition of failure? What's something you have previously failed at and how did it make you feel? How can you deal with failure in a healthy way?
7. How do you lie to yourself everyday? Why are you doing this and what are you trying to avoid?
8. How have you internalized your parents' judgment? How do you free yourself from it?
9. What is something you hate about your body? See if it's related to your trauma or the world around you, and why you hate it.
10. What are your triggers and why? What events happened to cause that trigger? Do you have any specific triggers, like a song, a movie / tv show, etc?
11. Did you have a good childhood? Why or why not?
12. What are some intrusive thoughts you've had lately? What triggered these thoughts, what do you think the root cause is?
13. Think of a time that you were hurt and felt you deserved it. What made you feel like that? Was it justified?
14. When reflecting about your childhood, what makes you extremely angry or sad to this day?
15. Did your parents provide you with everything you needed?

✾ Emotions & Self Reflecting

1. What emotion do you try to avoid? What makes you so afraid to feel it?
2. What negative emotions are you the most comfortable feeling? How often and why do these emotions show up?
3. What emotions do you rarely express Infront of others? Why are you hiding these emotions? What would happen if you started expressing these emotions more?
4. Are you okay with the fact that not everyone will like you? Why or why not, and how does this make you feel?
5. Which behavior that you know is wrong and has negative effects do you repeat over and over again? Why do you do this?
6. How long do you spend reflecting on failures and mistakes? Do you have difficulties coming to terms with them?
7. Are you self deprecating, or self destructive? When, how, and why did this begin?
8. What are some of your toxic traits? When do they tend to show themselves?
9. Name 5-10 negative beliefs you have about yourself. Where do they come from? Do they have validity? Why or why not?
10. What are some things you consider "cringy"? Why do you think that? Do you associate those with someone? If it's yourself, what can you do to be nicer to your child self?
11. Think about someone you hate for "no reason." What are some things about them that bother you? Do these things remind you of yourself, or someone who hurt you?
12. What are some things you blame yourself for? Is it really fair to blame yourself for this, or were there other factors involved?
13. What is your greatest experience with confrontation? Do you find it more difficult than it should be or do you feel like you handle confrontation in a healthy way?
14. When are you the most critical of yourself? Explain what your self-talk sounds like.
15. What do you currently envy in someone's life, and why?