Positive Recovery Journaling is a brief written therapeutic practice that combines aspects of existing interventions; specifically, values clarification exercises, positive psychological activities, and behavioral activation practices.
In Positive Recovery Journaling, clients review the past twenty-four hours on the left side of the page and plan the next twenty-four hours on the right side of the page using short bullet pointed lists in response to specific column headings.
Please feel free to review this Positive Recovery Journaling entry composed of real entries written by our research participants. This entry also represents the average number of bullet points participants have used in our research.
Another aspect of Positive Recovery Journaling is a values clarification exercise that leads to the client writing a set of short-term goals that will lead them forward in their lives in the direction they desire. Clients are taught to re-write the first draft of their goals so that they are measurable, observable, and the smallest next step, a practice from behavioral activation therapies that is designed to help the person successfully achieve their goals.
Here is an example of the values clarification aspect of the journaling. This too is a de-identified composite of research participant entries. Notice in the lower right hand corner where the person’s first draft goals are re-written so that they are more detailed and represent a task that could reasonably be accomplished over the coming day:
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