Journaling is More Than Just Words
An Introduction to Visual Journaling
Most of us grew up with a particular image of journaling: a notebook, a pen, and sentences that trail across a page. Dear Diary… And while written journaling has real and lasting benefits, it’s not the only way to process, reflect, and express what’s happening inside you.
For many people, especially those who find blank pages intimidating, who think in images rather than sentences, or who feel like their inner world doesn’t quite fit into words—visual journaling can be a genuinely transformative practice.
What Is Visual Journaling?
Visual journaling is exactly what it sounds like: a journaling practice that incorporates images, colour, and mark-making alongside (or instead of) written words.
It might look like:
Sketching or doodling how a day felt rather than describing it.
Collaging images cut from magazines to represent a mood, a goal, or a season of life.
Using watercolour washes, coloured pencils, or paint to capture an emotion that’s hard to name.
Creating mind maps, timelines, or visual symbols that track patterns in your thoughts or feelings.
A mix of all of the above: words, images, colour, texture, in whatever combination feels right.
The key is that there are no rules. Visual journaling is not about producing art. It’s about giving your inner life somewhere to land.
The Research Behind Journaling
Before we get into the visual side of things, it’s worth noting that journaling in general has decades of scientific support behind it. Psychologist Dr. James Pennebaker at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, has been at the forefront of this research, and his findings are striking; writing about emotional experiences for as little as 15–30 minutes, across just a few sessions, can produce meaningful improvements in both mental and physical well-being.
His work, and the research that has followed it, points to benefits including reduced anxiety and depression symptoms, improved immune function, better sleep, and greater emotional resilience—with effects that can persist for months after the writing sessions end.
A review of more than 200 published studies found that people who journal regularly report better mental health outcomes, sharper focus, and stronger working memory. One study of adults with elevated anxiety found that journaling for just 12 weeks was an effective way to reduce psychological distress and improve overall functioning.
“Writing about difficult experiences helps process traumatic events by organizing chaotic thoughts and releasing pent-up emotions.”
Visual journaling extends this benefit further. By engaging creative and sensory channels alongside (or instead of) language, it opens the door for people who don’t identify as writers—and reaches parts of the emotional landscape that words alone sometimes can’t access.
Why It Works: The Benefits of Visual Journaling
It bypasses the inner critic
Written journaling asks us to form coherent thoughts and sentences. For many people, that internal editor shows up quickly — censoring, second-guessing, tidying things up before they even hit the page. Visual journaling sidesteps this. When you’re choosing a colour or tearing an image from a magazine, your analytical mind tends to quiet down, giving other parts of you a chance to surface.
It accesses what words can’t reach
Language is a remarkable tool, but it has limits. Some experiences — grief, joy, confusion, awe — resist tidy description. A swirl of deep blue and grey might capture something that three paragraphs couldn’t. Visual expression draws on different neural pathways than verbal processing, which means it can reach feelings and memories that live beneath the level of language.
It supports emotional regulation
The act of making something — drawing, colouring, collaging — engages the nervous system in a grounding way. The repetitive, focused attention required by visual creative work activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the same system involved in rest and recovery. Many people find that 15–20 minutes of visual journaling leaves them feeling calmer and more settled than when they started.
It builds self-awareness over time
Looking back through a visual journal over weeks or months can be surprisingly illuminating. Patterns emerge — recurring images, colours you reach for during difficult periods, symbols that keep appearing. This kind of reflection can deepen self-understanding in ways that even thoughtful written journaling sometimes misses.
It’s genuinely accessible
You don’t need artistic talent. You don’t need to know how to draw. You need a page and something to make a mark with. Visual journaling meets people where they are, which is part of why it’s used across clinical, educational, and wellness settings with people of all ages and backgrounds.
A Note on the Field
Much of what we know about visual journaling in a therapeutic context comes from the work of Dr. Cathy Malchiodi, a psychologist, expressive arts therapist, and trauma specialist who has spent decades exploring how creative expression supports healing.
Malchiodi describes visual journaling as one of the most accessible entry points into expressive arts practice — rooted in a simple premise that she captures plainly: draw, repeat. Her body of work, including her book Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy: Brain, Body, and Imagination in the Healing Process, makes a compelling case for why image-based approaches can reach experiences that verbal therapies sometimes cannot.
Her writing has been foundational in shaping how expressive arts therapy is practised with children, adults, and families navigating trauma and loss.
How to Get Started: A Simple Guide
What you’ll need:
A journal or sketchbook with blank (unlined) pages works best, but any paper will do. For tools, start simple: a few coloured pencils, markers, or even just pens. Magazines for collage are a nice addition if you have them. You don’t need to invest in art supplies to begin.
Set aside the outcome:
Before you start, remind yourself that this is not about making something beautiful or impressive. Nothing in your visual journal needs to be shown to anyone. Its only job is to reflect something true about your inner experience.
Use words freely, or not at all:
Visual journaling doesn’t require you to abandon language entirely. Many people write words, phrases, or fragments alongside their images. Others find that removing words entirely is the most freeing part of the practice. Follow what feels right for you on any given day.
Keep it brief:
You don’t need a long session to benefit. Even 10 to 15 minutes of visual journaling, done consistently, can shift your relationship to your emotional life over time. Consistency matters far more than duration.
Let it evolve:
Your visual journal will change as you do. Some weeks it may be filled with colour and chaos; other times it might hold a single, quiet image. There’s no correct version of this practice, only yours.
Start with a prompt:
If a blank page feels daunting, try one of these:
What does today feel like? Choose a colour and let your hand move.
Find or draw an image that represents how you’re feeling right now.
Draw the shape of your week: is it heavy, light, jagged, or smooth?
What’s taking up the most space in your mind? Give it a visual form.
Visual Journaling at Creative Horizons Counselling
At Creative Horizons Counselling, creative expression is a core part of how we support clients.
Visual journaling can be a meaningful complement to therapeutic work, and a way to continue processing between sessions, to track emotional patterns, or simply to build a more intentional relationship with your inner world.
If you’re curious about how expressive arts approaches might support your wellbeing, we’d be glad to talk with you about what that could look like.
We’re here to support you.
Book an appointment here or call us at: 778-265-6383.
We are located in Westshore, Victoria, BC.
Interested in trying visual journaling with some guidance?
Lisa Mitchell is offering an upcoming short-session online group for those who’d like to explore this practice in a supported, welcoming space. If that sounds like something you’d value, reach out to Lisa directly to learn more and register your interest.
We are located in Westshore, Victoria, BC.