I don’t think there was a single reason I used to drink, but ONE reason I drank at the end of the day was to quiet the noise in my head. Long after I quit, I came upon this journaling technique to do just that, and I wish I’d known about it earlier. It seems to be well studied and helped me when I found I was caught in a worry/doom/stress loop in my thoughts.

It was designed for recovery from stressful or traumatic events, but can be tailored for other uses as well.  Here’s how it goes:

1. Choose a Topic: Select a specific stressful, traumatic, or emotional experience to focus on during your journaling sessions.

1. Write deeply and continuously for 15-20 minutes about your thoughts and emotions surrounding the experience, how it has affected you, including your relationships, career, or other aspects of your life. Don’t censor yourself or worry about style or grammar. Just write.

1. Repeat for 3-5 sessions on consecutive days, if possible. If you can’t do consecutive days, at least try to keep the days within a week or two.

That’s it! The journaling (and journaling in general) helps organize thoughts, find meaning in experiences, and release emotional intensity around events. And the studies on this technique indicate that it leads to improved immune function and reduced blood pressure, as well as overall improved mental and emotional well-being.

Just be aware that you might initially feel sadder when you begin the sessions, which is why several sessions are needed to achieve that release of emotional intensity. And as always, trust yourself. Don’t force anything and if it becomes too upsetting, stop and switch to soothing activities.

It’s not so different from “brain dump” journaling to unload spiraling worries, which is also beneficial.

Once you can quiet the noise, you no longer need to distract yourself from your own thoughts by drinking or scrolling or Netflix binging. And then, as I wrote about previously, your head space becomes your safe space, and you can be comfortable anywhere.