keeping a journal to cope

Stone · 11-02-2005, 01:10 PM

I was reading some information on this site
http://www.specialchild.com/family.html

and it had a great idea about keeping a jornal this is what questions you should ask yourself

Another way to approach this is to complete a sentence stem. Here are a few that I use in the workshops I present:

1. The best thing about my child is...

2. The worst thing about my child is...

3. A feeling or thought that I am embarrassed about is...

4. Something that made me proud lately happened when...

5. The worst thing about my spouse is...

6. The best thing about my spouse is...

7. The nicest thing someone said to me lately was...

8. I hope that...

9. I grieve about my dream that will never be...

10. I dream a new dream that...

11. My child has taught me that...

12. I am becoming a better person because...

Duke · 11-02-2005, 01:45 PM

I'm prolly going to put this on the front page Stone.

Stone · 11-02-2005, 01:52 PM

Great those questions are good to ask yourself even if you don't have a special needs child.

i posted Noah's story there, maby we should exchange links with them as well

TKDLady · 11-02-2005, 08:14 PM

These are a couple of the groups I joined in an effort to help Dave. They have some wonderful people who have been through what every special needs parent is going through. They also have links to more help and information.

Groups.yahoo.com/group/parentsofneardrowns/
Groups.yahoo.com/group/parentsofseverelydisabledkids/
www.braintalk.org
www.hugsfoundation.org

I hope this gives you a start on this new and wonderful forum.

Duke · 11-02-2005, 08:56 PM

Thanks gals, I hope to start persuing these links this weekend. I also ask that if anyone here knows people who have experiences in this area to please have them register here. The more content we can add the better in hopes that we may become a definative resource for all kinds of issues.

Meanon · 11-03-2005, 03:21 PM

At uni one of my lecturers has a special interest in the therapeutic value of writing. The research findings are quite amazing. It occured to me that you (on this site) may be interested in the subject because we write about our lives. If I find anything suitable for posting I'll let you know.

The journal sounds like a great idea, stone. The headings are useful to get you started but you may well find you get more out of it when you are used to writing and have a more freeflow approach, reflecting on whatever comes to mind at the time. Another common approach people find helpful in conflict situations is to write letters (unsent) to the person you are in conflict with, then write back to yourself as if you were them as they are now (not as you would wish them to be).

Merika · 11-04-2005, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meanon

Another common approach people find helpful in conflict situations is to write letters (unsent) to the person you are in conflict with, then write back to yourself as if you were them as they are now (not as you would wish them to be).

Awwww....that's all I need...cussing my OWN self out!

Seriously though....I think journals/diaries are the way to go in figuring out how you really feel about any issue. I've kept journals my whole life and it's the one way I've had to really deal with myself about things I would otherwise ignore or not want to address.

Luba · 11-05-2005, 09:01 AM

I write every day, too; it brings everything from the inside out...it's incredible how I start to write about one thing and something entirely different starts to come out...what Oprah calls an 'Aha' moment...I've had Many of those since I've started writing...

Meanon · 11-05-2005, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Awwww....that's all I need...cussing my OWN self out!

I must admit, I was giggling as I wrote this thinking of what you would make of it!!!

(pink bunny avatar? makes me think I should get one)