Hi and welcome to the Sabby Psychologist podcast where we meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear and zero judgment. I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and with the

mindfulness movement in full swing and the gratitude movement gaining steam

keeping a journal is a timely and popular New Year's resolution.

And it seems simple, and indeed it is simple, but today we'll cover five tips to

supercharge your writing by request from listener Tom B from Laguna Beach.

Now some call it a brain dump, some call it a careful archive of their life, I call it forced introspection.

Whatever you call it, keeping a diary or a journal can be a powerful exercise.

Journaling has no rules. Do it when, where, and how you like. But consider these five

tips to help make your journal the best expression of you.

Tip number one, tell your journal the stuff you've never told anyone. In 1986, Drs James Pennebaker and Sandra Beale

published a now classic study that seemed too good to be true. In the study they asked a group of students to write for 15 minutes over four consecutive days about a traumatic event in their life.

Other students were asked to write for the same amount of time,

over the same days, but about trivial topics,

like a description of their living room

or the shoes they were wearing.

Now, right after the writing,

the participants who wrote about traumatic events

had slightly higher blood pressure

and a slightly lousier mood

than those who wrote about trivial topics.

But, six months following the writing than those who wrote about trivial topics.

But six months following the writing, the trauma writers reported better health,

...