What should I journal about between therapy sessions?

Write down anything that surfaces after a session — a comment that stuck with you, a pattern you noticed in daily life, or something you're not ready to say out loud yet. Bringing these notes to your next session often gives you more to work with than trying to remember on the spot.

Can journaling replace therapy?

No — journaling is a helpful complement to therapy, not a substitute for it. It can help you process sessions, track progress, and arrive at your next appointment with clearer material, but the guidance and accountability of a therapist is something writing alone can't replace.

therapy journal prompts

prompts to process sessions and carry the work between them

Therapy doesn't stop when the session ends — a lot of the real work happens in the days after, turning something your therapist said over in your mind. These prompts help you process what came up, notice patterns across sessions, and walk in next time with something more than 'I don't know where to start.'

Journaling can support your wellbeing, but it isn't a substitute for professional care. If you're struggling, please reach out to someone you trust or a mental health professional. In the US, you can call or text 988 for free, confidential support.

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therapy journal prompts to write about

What's one thing my therapist said recently that I haven't fully sat with yet?
What did I avoid bringing up in my last session, and why?
What pattern have I noticed repeating across the last few sessions?
What's something I understand about myself now that I didn't a few months ago?
What came up this week that I want to bring to my next session?
What did I feel defensive about in therapy recently, and what might that be protecting?
What's a piece of homework or insight from therapy I haven't actually tried yet?
Where did I notice an old pattern show up in real life this week?
What question do I wish my therapist would ask me?
What's something I said in session that surprised me once I heard it out loud?
What progress have I made that's easy to overlook day to day?
What am I still not ready to talk about, and what would it take to get there?
What emotion showed up strongly this week that I want to unpack further?
What's a belief about myself that therapy has started to loosen?
How did I feel walking out of my last session, and why?
What relationship or situation keeps coming up in therapy that I haven't fully resolved?
What would I want to remember from this stage of the work a year from now?
What's one small way I practiced something from therapy this week?

Use these between sessions, not as a replacement for one. Writing down what surfaces in therapy makes it easier to remember and easier to bring back up next time.

Some prompts fit right after a session, others suit the quieter days in between — use whichever matches where you are this week.

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Prefer to reflect out loud? ttyl lets you record audio journal entries to your future self — a spoken time capsule.

download ttyl to start your audio journal

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