Introduction to Journaling

Learn exciting new ways to express yourself and develop your creativity through journaling. This course will help you discover how to use your journal to explore your thoughts, feelings, and values and support your emotional well-being in good time and through difficult changes.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

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Offered in partnership with your preferred school

Tallahassee State College

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Learning method

Self-Guided

$119

No instructor. Study on your own schedule

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Instructor-Moderated

$119

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Starting April 16 | May 14

Details + Objectives

Course code: itj

If you have ever wanted to try journaling, this course will provide answers to your every question. You will discover the different types of journaling and many journaling techniques, exercises, tools and resources. You will explore a seven-step process that will ease you into writing a journal. You will get detailed instructions on developing, decorating, and customizing your journal, and you will learn exciting new ways to express yourself and develop your creativity.

You will discover how you can use your journal to explore your thoughts, feelings, and values, and you will learn how to use your journal to support your emotional well-being. You will also understand how journaling can ease the stress of unwanted change throughout the course of your life. You'll even discover how journaling can help you choose the best career for you or advance in your current career.

What you will learn

Discover the difference between a journal and a diary and identify benefits of journaling
Learn journaling tools, aids and resources
Learn how to journal through chaos, crisis, and change
Learn to express yourself in a creative way
Learn ways journaling can aid you in developing your career

How you will benefit

Discover a tool for expressing your thoughts and emotions
Effectively cope with change in your life through journaling
Create a healthy habit that may keep you journaling for years to come

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
6 Weeks or 3 Months access
24 course hours

Outline

Have you ever wondered how a journal differs from a diary? Are you curious about the benefits of journaling? Are you aware of the ways journaling can improve your physical health? This lesson will help you explore these important topics and share with you a selection from one of the most famous journals of all time.

If you're like many journalers, you enjoy learning about different tools and resources you can use to strengthen your journaling practice. This lesson will guide you through taking a closer look at the different kinds of journaling, journals, writing utensils, paper, online journals, and software programs that can enrich your writing. By the time you're finished with this lesson, you'll know much more about journaling tools, aids, and resources than you ever thought possible!

Now that you've learned the basics, it's time to get started journaling! In this lesson, you'll look at a seven-step journaling process that will help ease you into writing, even if you've never journaled before. The lesson will also introduce you to two kinds of writing prompts to jumpstart your journaling and then talk about how you can protect your journal's safety and your confidentiality as you write.

The previous lesson introduced you to two fundamental types of journaling exercises. This lesson will teach you four more. By adding such tools as list making, writing prompts, dialogues, and unsent letters to your journaling toolbox, you'll not only enrich your journaling, but keep yourself motivated to write for years to come!

Have you ever wondered how to make a journal from scratch? If so, you're in luck because that's exactly what you'll learn in this lesson! Additionally, you'll also discover other playful ways to customize your journal, such as decorating your journal's cover and myriad ways to incorporate art and scrapbooking techniques into your journal's pages.

One of the most important reasons why people journal is to discover themselves. Are you ready to discover who you are? In this lesson, you'll discover your thoughts, feelings, and values, and demonstrate how to explore all three in the safe space of your journal.

In the previous lesson, you learned about the difference between emotions and feelings and why both are so vital. In this lesson, you'll build on that foundation by delving into emotional intelligence, which is your capacity to work effectively with your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. You'll learn how your journal can support you in learning the critical skills necessary for true emotional well-being.

Are you a creative person? If you're breathing (and hopefully you are!), then you most certainly are creative. This lesson will share with you a liberating definition of creativity and guide you on a tour of the three-step creative process—conception, incubation, and birth. You'll enjoy collecting new ways to express yourself and your creativity in the pages of your journal.

A lot of people begin journaling after some significant life change that upsets the applecart of their existence. Has that ever happened to you? In this lesson, you'll explore the Cycle of Change and rediscover your life's true story in the process. You'll also discover how your journal can aid you in weathering the chaotic and unexpected winds of change. Afterwards, you'll learn about how journaling can ease the stress of unwanted change throughout the course of your life.

Are you fascinated by your own dreams? If so, you'll really enjoy this lesson. After learning about the major types of dreams and dream themes, you'll delve into the power of symbols. Then, you'll learn about a dream journaling process that you can implement as frequently as you like. If you're having trouble remembering your dreams, the lesson will even show you how to turn that pattern around!

Of all the types of journaling that will be shared with you in this course, this is the one you probably know the least about—and need the most! You'll begin this lesson by looking at the career-development process so you can see for yourself how journaling can help you do everything from choosing a career or college major, writing a resume, preparing for job interviews, or even advancing your career to the next stage.

So far in this course, you've gained a wealth of knowledge about journaling, discovered more journaling prompts than you can count, and begun to journal regularly. Now it's time to learn how to evaluate your journaling to see if it's helping you in the ways you hoped. This lesson will teach you how and when to examine your journaling habit and suggest ways you can keep your journaling habit fresh as the years go by.

Instructors & Support

Cheryl Simpson

Cheryl Simpson, L.P.C., is a Career Coach and Ohio-licensed Career Counselor with more than 30 years of journaling experience. Simpson is the author of more than 30 articles for both print and Internet media. She also has developed more than 100 journaling exercises and leads journaling workshops and retreats on college campuses, at conferences, in schools, and for religious organizations.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

Reviews

An excellent course. It exceeded my expectations and I am absolutely sure I will use the information throughout the years.

Cheryl, thank you for a very meaningful class. I know that I will use this material over and over again. I have been inspired to really focus on the benefits to be gained from journaling. The material you had for us was so much more thought provoking than I expected for a journaling class. I have a whole new appreciation for the art of journaling.

Great course on the psychology of journaling and I enjoyed getting back into writing. Very inspiring and personal. I have learned much to take with me in my writing adventure. Thank you.

I have benefited immensely from this class and highly recommend it to anyone who has used journaling to explore their inner life and to get honest and current with themselves. The instructor has presented valuable information and resources also for those who are new to journaling. Enjoy! You will not be disappointed.

I have kept a journal (on and off) for 20 years. In the past year, I noticed huge gaps in time between entries, so I decided to take this class to get me back on track. As a result of this course, not only am I writing in my journal more frequently, but I'm having a blast doing so! My entries are more focused and insightful and full of zest and optimism. I've also started to record my dreams, which is a new experience for me. Thank you for giving us the tools and techniques to make our journal writing more efficient, beneficial and fun!

I knew I would enjoy this class just from reading the course outline, but I didn't expect it to have such a huge impact on me. I rediscovered the joy of writing and used my journaling to make major changes in my life. This has been one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. Each lesson was exactly what I was hoping to learn, and so much more. I have two degrees, but this course is one that will continue to have a positive impact every day. Thank you so much!

I learned a lot more from this course than I thought I would. I will be using this information for the rest of my life.

I'm new to journaling and this course has been a wonderful surprise. I had no idea the practice of journaling offered so many benefits and can be such a helpful, powerful tool in our lives.

I really appreciated the different techniques and tools of journaling the class afforded. I also am interested in exploring the dream areas more. There was just a lot of information and ideas that I think will be helpful down the line.

Thank you for this class, because I really needed some direction and a safe place to share my thoughts and dreams.