31 Powerful Journaling Prompts for Healing & Recovery
For this article, I have collected and written 31 of the best most powerful journaling prompts for healing and recovery to use for your journey to wellness.
If you’ve been hanging here on Sassy Sister Stuff with me for a while, you know I’ve been promoting and using journals for my own personal growth and wellness for a couple of years now. If you’re new here, I invite you to visit my other articles about journal prompts to get a strong foundation for how they can help support your personal growth, wellness, and overall happiness in life.
So grab your journal and something to write with so you can get started with your healing and recovery journey:)
Related Article: 30 Self Reflection Journal Prompts for Personal Growth
Journaling Prompts for Healing and Recovery
There are many kinds of healing and recovery — emotional healing, physical healing — healing from abuse, healing from childhood trauma, healing from chronic illness and debilitating diseases, recovery from substance abuse addiction or alcohol addiction, and so many more.
Journaling through your healing and recovery process can help with your journey — especially if you are someone who has difficulty with verbally communicating about difficult topics. As an alternative to conversation, journaling offers you private time and space to reflect on your situation and let go of the painful memories.
As modern, strong women, we sometimes resist the process of surrendering and talking about our pain — instead, we suppress and suffer from it. But journaling is a form of compromise. You can reflect, analyze, process, and release the pain privately through pen and paper.
Journaling is an valuable way to help you heal and recover.
“Holding on to pain can lead to bitterness, resentment, anxiety, fatigue, chronic illness, debilitating diseases and feelings of discontent and disconnection.”
~ Tracie Braylock
These journaling prompts for healing and recovery will give you ideas to write about that will help you process your pain — whether physical or emotional. You should strive to write in your journal every day to get the most benefit from your reflections.
Related Article: A Year of 28 Day Challenges for Personal Growth
Use these 31 journaling prompts for healing and recovery to guide you in your process. Think, reflect, and write from a place of total honesty — visualize your complete healing and know that it will happen.
1. Create a list of 5 things you have learned about yourself during the healing and recovery process?
2. Write a goodbye letter to something in your life that you want to eliminate during your healing and recovery process.
3. What does the word “freedom” mean to you right now at this point in your healing and recovery process?
4. Create a list of all the things in your life that you want to say NO to right now.
5. Create a list of all the things in your life that you want to say YES to right now.
6. Write the words that you most want to hear someone say to you right now.
7. After healing and recovery, what are 5 things you want to learn to do or start doing again?
8. Write down 5 questions that you want answers to even if you know you may not ever get answers.
9. What about this healing and recovery process scares you the most? How are you going to overcome the fear?
10. What does showing up for yourself look like to you during your healing and recovery process?
11. Make a list of 5 things in your life that are better right now than they were five years ago. Describe yourself then and now.
12. Write a “letter to my younger self” describing what you are going to go through at this time of your life.
13. Write a “letter to my future self” about how you are managing your healing and recovery process.
14. Make a list of 10 things that make you SMILE and have a brighter life right now.
15. Make a list of 10 things you have done this week that make you feel good.
16. Write an essay about the strengths you have developed during your healing and recovery journey.
17. How has the healing and recovery process improved your life?
18. What are you going to do to make your wellbeing a priority from now on?
19. What does healing and recovery mean to you right now?
20. What are your warning signs, or triggers, that let you know it’s time to rest, recharge, and relax?
21. What do you do to rest, recharge, and relax at this time in your journey? What will you do in the future?
22. What small lifestyle changes will have the most positive impact on your future wellbeing?
23. Finish this sentence: “I really need to stop…. ”
24. How can you practice more mindfulness in your every day life?
25. What does achieving happiness mean to you? What does it look like in your life?
26. What are your priorities in life during your healing and recovery? What will be your priorities in the future?
27. What actions can you take to simplify your life now and in the future?
28. What would you tell someone who is experiencing the same problem as you are?
29. How can you feel more fulfilled in life? What can you do to make that happen?
30. What’s the biggest challenge you managed to overcome during your healing and recovery journey?
31. How do you navigate your way through change, uncertainty and a loss of control? How can you handle it better in the future?
Related Article: 160 Awesome Gratitude Journal Prompts for a New Outlook on Life
What is an Addiction Recovery Journal?
An Addiction Recovery Journal is another great option for someone who is recovering from an addiction. It’s like a memoir of your thoughts, reflections, emotions, interactions, behaviors, triggers, priorities, and other important components of your recovery.
It may or may not include journaling prompts for healing and recovery because because it can be more like a diary about each day.
Although I am not an addiction or mental health specialist, I want to include some helpful information here simply because I am familiar with the practices and want to help as many people as possible. This information is not intended to be a professional consultation between you and me — please see an appropriate specialist if you are in need of professional help.
These are some things that you should include in your Addiction Recovery Journal.
- Daily emotions that you experience
- Goals and plans for your recovery
- Identified triggers that cause you a problem
- Strategies for avoiding your triggers
- Thoughts of gratefulness
- A list of your priorities in life
- Inspirational quotes and words of wisdom that help you stay positive
- A list of victories during your recovery journey
You should choose a private place to write that is free from distractions since this is an important part of your recovery. Set aside 20-30 minutes to write in your journal every day. Throughout each day, jot down notes about your thoughts and feelings so you can elaborate later in your journal. And plan time regularly to review your journal entries and reflect on your words.
Whichever kind of journal you are using for healing and recovery, I wish you the very best!
Related Article: 90 Mindfulness Journal Prompts to Improve Your Life
Final Thoughts About Journaling for Healing & Recovery
Journaling prompts for healing and recovery should be used in a safe environment that enables you to face your pain or trauma privately. When that occurs, research shows that you can achieve tremendous healing.
Studies also show that journaling can even reduce pain, improve depression, and even lower inflammation in the body. Let the process help you!
You can also use meditation, mindfulness, calming coloring pages, yoga, and a heart of gratitude to support your healing — and don’t forget to drink plenty of water and eat properly. All of these strategies will help you grow through the process of healing. Check out 10 Simple Ways to Find Your ZEN in the Chaos of Life, too!
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One last thought…
Journaling is like a balm — it helps you soothe the pain — whether you have physical or emotional wounds, I hope you let your journal be your balm as you work through your pain and prepare for a bright future.
I hope these journaling prompts for healing and recovery help you heal, grow, and thrive.
Love to ALL! ~ Susan
