A Collection of Our Favorite Addiction Recovery Journal Prompts
Did you know that writing about your feelings can be extremely beneficial for your recovery? Maybe you just don’t know where to start when you crack the cover of a brand-new journal. These recovery journal prompts will help you find the words to describe where you are and where you want to be.
Writing can dramatically improve mental health and substance use disorders. You might start by writing letters to your past, present, and future selves. Spend some time thinking about what addiction means to you, when you had your happiest moments, and who in your life you might need to let go.
South Shores Detox can help you start your recovery journey with a safe space to clear your system of drugs and alcohol. We can also help you start an addiction recovery journal with our clinicians and team of caring professionals. Keep reading to get more ideas with these journal prompts.
How Does Writing Help in the Addiction Recovery Process?
While most people who are struggling with drug or alcohol addiction think that they need more one-on-one counseling, a more introspective approach could help. A recovery journal may be one of the first tools your therapist gives you when you start the recovery journey.
How do writing prompts promote mental health and help in addiction treatment?
According to research studies on this topic, expressive writing for just twenty minutes per day can yield huge gains for substance use disorder and mental health. At a two-week follow-up of women who used journaling, clinicians saw lower scores of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic symptom severity.
People who practice journal prompts also find their treatment more satisfying, helpful, and pleasant than a control group. You may find that writing gives you the boost you need to tackle some more difficult topics in therapy once you dig deep on your own with some of these prompts.
Our Favorite Prompts for Addiction Treatment
The beauty of journaling is that there are no right or wrong ways to do it. You can use words, pictures, or anything that inspires you. You can write about what’s going wrong or what’s going right in your life. However, some may need a little guidance before picking up the pen and keeping their recovery journal.
Here are our favorite addiction recovery journal prompts to get you started.
Dear Past Self
What do you wish you could go back in time and tell an earlier version of yourself? Writing a letter to your past self allows you to relay lessons you learned along the way. It may take some time to think about which version of your past self you want to write to, but there aren’t any wrong answers.
Should you write to yourself as a child, as a teenager, or when you picked up alcohol or drugs for the first time? This is one prompt that you could do over and over again at various points in your life.
It could also be a prompt that tells your past self where you are right now, at rock bottom. Warn yourself what it will be like to get to this point.
Dear Future Self
If you found the last journal prompt helpful, you might decide to write a letter to your future self. Write as though you are reminding yourself where you are right now and what it felt like to hit rock bottom. But you don’t have to dwell on the negative consequences of your actions in this letter. You can write out how you want to feel and what you’re looking forward to in the future.
What would it look like for you to have achieved sobriety? What do you want to feel like? What does your life story look like now?
Dear Present Self
This is one of the best places to start your addiction recovery journal. How do you feel about where you are right now? Do you feel stuck in the cycle of addiction and substance misuse? When you come to South Shores Detox, you might be at a low point when you finally admit you need help.
It’s okay to express frustration with yourself and sadness for where you are, as well as hope for the future when you leave your detox program. This is a time for complete honesty to kickstart the healing process. If you know where you are, you can look back on this for a bit of personal accountability and take control of your own life.
This will be a sobering reminder to look back on months and years into your recovery journey.
Explain Addiction to Yourself
Maybe you want something to look back on to remind you of what it’s like to live a day in your life as it stands right now. What does addiction mean to you? What does it feel like, and how does it play out in your day-to-day life?
If you struggle to figure out what addiction looks like to you and what a healthy life would look like, you might try writing a letter to your addiction. A breakup letter when you’re ready to pursue a life without it might be the permission you need to give yourself to look at what you want from your life story.
Goodbye Letter
Do you have someone in your life who isn’t helping you find sobriety? If there’s someone that you need to let go to improve your health and kick addiction to the curb once and for all, your journal can be a good starting point to explore what your life will look like without them.
You never have to give them this letter, but it can help you start to find the language to tell them your goodbyes if you feel that you need to give them notice that they’re unhealthy for you to be around.
Last Happy Moment
When was the last time you were truly happy? This might be a sobering activity because happiness can be elusive when substance use disorder is out of control. Even if you have to dig back into your past for your most recent happy moment, those positive feelings could sustain you during the difficult days of detox.
If you can’t think of the last time you were happy, write about the happiest moments of your life story or even gifts you were given and truly appreciated. This could be the moment a child was born, when you graduated from college, or even a special birthday party when you were a child. Nothing is too small to write about if it brought you joy.
Write Out Your Goals
Maybe you already found your way to detox and have started your journey toward recovery. If you have an idea of what full recovery looks like to you, write about it now. This allows you to see the early stages of your growth. When you look back on your journal and see how far you’ve come toward your goals, it’s a great time to celebrate progress.
Come Up with a Self-Care Routine
When you have difficult feelings, the last thing you might want to do is take care of yourself. It’s much easier to numb out with a drug and alcohol addiction. But self-care is pivotal in achieving lasting sobriety. You don’t have to write in complete sentences, but make a bullet-point list of things you can do to take better care of yourself.
Think about the small things that make you feel happy and fulfilled. It could be as simple as taking a bath or going for a walk.
Your Last Mistake
If there’s one guarantee in life, it’s that we are all going to make mistakes. The important thing is that you pick yourself back up, dust yourself off, and learn from the lessons they bring you. Will you make the same mistake again?
Writing the emotions you have surrounding this most recent mistake can help you spot situations where similar things might take place. You can gain the skills you need to prevent the same outcome with your therapist and in treatment. Learning from the lessons of the past is key to setting a manageable goal for the future.
Biggest Adversary for Recovery
Have you noticed that there is one person who jeopardizes your sobriety more often than others? This prompt allows you to explore your relationships with people in your life who aren’t your cheerleaders in recovery. Once you can name and identify the people who aren’t building you up, you may explore what it would be like to break up with them.
You may even find that you have been your own biggest adversary.
Biggest Support in Recovery
The flip side of the coin is that you could write about your biggest support in recovery. At first, this may be the caring professionals at South Shores Detox. It doesn’t matter how many people you can identify as supports. As long as you have at least one person in your corner, you can go the distance with your sobriety.
Find More Help at South Shores Detox
South Shores Detox is here to help you when you want to get a handle on substance use. We offer you around-the-clock care for a drug or alcohol addiction and can get you started on your recovery journey. When you want a safe and comfortable place to detox before moving on to residential care, let our team help you.
You can reach our enrollment team anytime to ask questions in a confidential call. We can verify your insurance benefits and help you find a bed in our detox program today!
References
- Meshberg-Cohen, S., Svikis, D., & McMahon, T. J. (2014). Expressive writing as a therapeutic process for drug-dependent women. Substance abuse, 35(1), 80–88.
- Krentzman, A. R., Hoeppner, S. S., Hoeppner, B. B., & Barnett, N. P. (2024). A randomized feasibility study of a positive psychology journaling intervention to support recovery from substance-use disorders. Journal of substance use and addiction treatment, 164, 209410.