How Journaling Can Help You Process Your Surgical Trauma

Journaling is a powerful tool for processing your emotions. It can help you understand your own thoughts and allow for creative expression.

Journaling especially focuses on your emotions and feelings, and perhaps reflections of an experience. It can therefore be a helpful tool for processing your surgical trauma.

Medical trauma can create a sense of loss of control, and writing can help reclaim agency by providing a structured outlet for our experiences.

Journaling allows us to externalise complex feelings, such as fear of future procedures, anxiety about recovery, or frustration with healthcare experiences. When we articulate our experiences, we validate our emotions, reducing stress and promoting healing.

Journaling to track progress

 

I have often felt like my surgical trauma is a puzzle I am trying to solve. As much of it took place during my childhood, I rely on memories given to me by friends and family members.

So when I find out a piece of new information about my surgeries, or remember something that happened years ago, I add it to my collection of puzzle pieces.

Writing is helping me solve the puzzle.

Memories can only serve you so far; you may not remember (or want to remember) how you felt in the moment. But those feelings attached to traumatic memories are important. They affect where you are now and how you got here.

Writing these feelings down at the time you feel them can help you build a map. Reflecting on journal entries from years ago means you can track your progress.

By documenting milestones, setbacks, and personal reflections, journaling allows you to see patterns in your recovery. You can recognise personal growth, and celebrate resilience. This is especially important for individuals recovering from medical trauma. As progress can often feel slow and often one step forward can take you three steps back, unlocking emotions you have suppressed, taking the time to reflect and practice self-compassion is critical to build your strength so you’re ready to take on your feelings again.

 

Building Self-Compassion Through Journaling

 

Being kind to yourself is essential for healing. Often, we can be our own harshest critics, especially when processing trauma. Maybe you think you haven’t made as much progress as you had hoped. Or maybe you’re experiencing shame and embarrassment.

Journaling helps us cultivate self-kindness by allowing us to acknowledge struggles without self-judgment. Writing with compassion fosters patience and understanding, reminding us that healing is a journey, not a race.

It is also a personal experience. You are writing for yourself, no one else needs to see what you have written. You therefore can fully empty your head and heart onto paper, without the fear of embarrassment or shame that may be attached to your feelings.

 

How to get started journaling

 

The idea of journaling could be a little daunting, especially if you are not used to writing.

You may not want to come face to face with your emotions.

But start small! Here’s a few tips if you don’t know where to begin.

• Choose the right platform for you. There’s no right way to journal, and there’s so many different ways to try! It’s important to find one that you enjoy and is convenient.
• Daily Check-In. Write about how you are feeling physically and emotionally each day. Acknowledge any pain, progress, or emotions that arise without judgment.
• Get into a routine. Build journaling into your everyday routine so you are more likely to do it. It could be when you wake up. Or just before you go to bed, reflecting on the day.
• Gratitude journaling. Keeping a gratitude journal helps you to reflect on the things you appreciate everyday and in your wider life. It doesn’t take much time, just list three things you are grateful for each day.
• Stream of consciousness writing. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and write whatever comes to mind. Allowing your pen to run wild over the page. This helps release bottled-up emotions and allows subconscious thoughts to surface.
• Trigger Mapping. Track what situations, words, or environments cause anxiety or distress as they arise. Use your journal to explore ways to cope with or reframe these triggers.
• Medical Encounters Log. Write about your hospital appointments and experiences in medical settings. This can help identify patterns in emotional responses and provide an opportunity to process difficult moments.

 

The Power of Small Steps

 

By dedicating a few minutes everyday, you can begin healing your trauma through writing. Whether you are piecing together memories, working through emotions, or simply trying to make sense of your experience, journaling can offer clarity and relief.

Starting small and finding a method that works for you is key. When I started, keeping consistent was a struggle, I would find excuses not to write, so I wouldn’t have to face my emotions but the more I wrote, the more I realised the better I felt. Even when it was hard in the moment, the lightness I felt the next day was liberating.

Trust me, with time, journaling can become a source of comfort, empowerment, and healing. It will remind you that your story is worth telling and that your progress, no matter how small, is always worth celebrating.