GLAD Journaling Explained by Your Anxiety Therapist in Charlotte, NC
As an anxiety therapist Charlotte, NC, I help individuals who want the most out of life, but anxiety and self-criticism have been getting in the way. Gratitude journaling is one of the practices I recommend because of its benefits in reducing feelings of anxiety and depression. One of the challenges with journaling is people have a hard time sustaining the practice because something about it just is not working for them. You may not know exactly what isn’t working, so you just stop entirely. In this blog, I will explore an engaging type of gratitude journaling designed to keep you journaling consistently.
What is Gratitude Journaling?
Gratitude journaling is a type of journaling that highlights what you are grateful for. If you’ve ever practiced gratitude journaling before, you may have noticed that you tended to write about the BIG things such as your life, family, home, and health. After a while, journaling began to feel redundant. You likely started to feel disconnected from it so you ended up stopping.
GLAD Journaling to Reduce Anxiety
What is GLAD Journaling
GLAD Journaling is a type of gratitude journaling that is designed to keep you engaged by reflecting on moments from each day. While the BIG things are great, there are so many other wonderful reasons to be grateful each and every day.
GLAD is an acronym that will not only remind you what to focus on but hopefully describes how you will begin to feel over time.
G - Grateful. Identify one thing you are grateful for from today.
L - Learn. Identify one thing you learned today. This can be something you learned about yourself or someone else. It can also be any new insight that you gained today.
A - Achieved/Accomplished. Identify one thing that you achieved or accomplished today. It doesn't need to be anything huge or extraordinary. It's all your life and nothing about your life is small. An example of this can be as simple or as real as “My achievement from today was making an appointment for that eye exam that I’ve been putting off.”
D - Delight. Identify something you found delightful today. This can be anything that brought you joy or made you smile or laugh. It can also be anything that was pleasing to one of your 5 senses. My example from today is I had the best cup of Chai this morning. It was the perfect temperature. It had just the right amount of spice. It was delicious! I love Chai, by the way. 😊
Integrating GLAD Journaling into Your Daily Life
I suggest you take a few minutes at the end of each day to reflect on your day and complete your GLAD Journal. The idea of GLAD Journaling is to focus on things that happen on that particular day.
If you start this practice, you may notice as you go about your day that you start looking for things that you can include in your GLAD Journal at the end of the day.
Gratitude Journaling Reduces Anxiety and Depression
Gratitude journaling and GLAD journaling, in particular, helps with anxiety and depression because it keeps you focused on the present. If you are struggling with depression you may notice that you tend to spend a lot of time dwelling on your past. Additionally, if you’re struggling with anxiety your worries are likely related to future-focused thoughts. GLAD Journaling shifts your attention to today - the present. It also reminds you that while there may be difficult moments that happen each day, every moment of the day is not a difficult moment.
Anxiety Therapist Charlotte, NC
If you’re ready for anxiety to stop getting in the way of your living a full life, visit my website to learn how to work with me. I’m an anxiety therapist based in Charlotte, NC. I provide online therapy to residents of North Carolina and Florida.
You can also download my FREE Anxiety Relief Checklist. It’s filled with practical tips + companion videos that will help you reduce anxiety starting today.
