Visual Journaling: Health Promotion through Art and Drawing

“What Is Visual Journaling

Visual journaling [also called art or drawing journaling] has been identified as both an important and accessible approach in expressive arts therapy, counseling, and education. It is not only an effective method for stress reduction, but also is considered a creative way to express personal narratives and life stories as well as make meaning through images, creative writing, and story sharing. 

Why Combine Images With Words

In a comparative study on the efficacy of art and writing therapy on stress reduction, Pizarro (2004) noted that the combined effects of art therapy and writing demonstrated more significant positive changes in terms of perceived levels of stress than writing alone.

Benefits Of Visual Journaling

There are a number of proven health benefits correlated with visual journaling or artmaking. For instance, engaging in brief artmaking has been shown to enhance immunity and decrease cortisol levels. Although, many of these benefits can be transferred to the effects of the visual journaling process, research on the specific effects of visual journaling demonstrated a decrease in anxiety levels and negative affect.

Suggested Visual Journaling Exercises

• Create a symbol of how you feel in the present moment and write one word to describe this feeling.

• Create a symbol of your day and write one word to describe your day.

• If you are having a not so good day, draw or trace a circle. Using lines, shapes, and colors create a symbol of this feeling in the circle. Write down words that describe this feeling. You can take this drawing out of your journal if you choose to.

• Create a drawing of your favorite place. Share this place with someone.

• Create a symbol of tension and write down a word to describe this state of being. Starting at your feet, focus on tensing up each muscle and then releasing it. Do this until you reach the top of your head.”

Read the full article on Goodtherapy

✨Takeaway: Visual journaling is a way to creatively express yourself. It incorporated both art and writing as a form of coping. Studies conducted have shown the benefits that visual journaling produces.

✨Reflection: Would you try visual journaling?

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