How My journal can support users
Encourage reflection and a better understanding of daily experiences
The My journal tool was designed to promote personal reflection and help users better understand their day-to-day experiences. By taking the time to observe and record their emotions, thoughts, or significant events, users can gain greater insight into what influences their well-being and daily functioning.
Identify what influences well-being and distress
Over time, My journal can help users more easily identify the situations, relationships and habits that contribute to their well-being, as well as those that generate more difficult emotions or distress. It also helps them recognize the strategies they use to cope with these experiences.
Highlight positive experiences and accomplishments
My journal also provides a space to recognize positive experiences in everyday life. Recording something they are proud of or grateful for or adding a photo of a positive moment helps users focus on what is meaningful and supportive while fostering positive emotions.
Users don’t need to write long journal entries to benefit from the tool. A few words, a sentence, a photo, or a brief reflection can be enough to encourage greater self-awareness.
When and how to use My Journal
My journal can be used as often as the person wishes, depending on their needs and preferences. Some people make it part of their daily routine, while others use it during significant moments or whenever they feel the need to step back and reflect.
The Journal thread allows users to review previous entries and observe how their thoughts, emotions, and experiences evolve over time.
Key considerations when using My Journal to support someone
Here are a few important points to keep in mind when incorporating My journal into your practice.
- Before introducing My journal during an intervention, it can be helpful to try the tool yourself. Becoming familiar with how it works will make it easier to use with the person you are supporting.
- In an intervention setting, My journal can serve as a useful starting point for exploring the person's experiences. You can invite them to revisit what they have recorded—their emotions, thoughts, situations or photos—to open the discussion, gain a better understanding of their daily life, help them recall events and identify practical next steps.
- Encourage the person to use their own words and make the tool their own.
- My journal is flexible and can accommodate different preferences. Users can write, select emotions or factors, add a photo or complete only the sections they find relevant.
- Whether used regularly or from time to time, the tool can help identify patterns (e.g., triggers, more difficult periods or helpful factors) and encourage self-observation.
My Journal: What you beed to know
- Data entered into My Tools is confidential.
- Accessing My journal is simple—all users need to do is create an account.
- Because it can be accessed from anywhere, My journal can be used while waiting for the bus, standing in line or whenever it’s convenient.
Examples of using My Journal in intervention settings
Explore practical examples of how My journal can be used in a variety of intervention settings. The clinical vignettes below illustrate different ways to incorporate this tool into practice with diverse client populations and across different settings.