ABSTRACT
Strategic journaling is based on the strategic therapy of the Mental Research Institute group (Wafzlawick, Weakland, and Fisch, 1974). Often the way clients attempt to cope with problems becomes problematic itself. In effect, the attempted solution becomes the problem. Strategic journaling is designed for clients who find themselves ruminating about problems or bothered by repetitive, intrusive thoughts and images that seem to be out of control and unstoppable. Many clients attempt to solve this problem by cognitively telling themselves not to think about the problem, or to stop feeling or thinking a certain way. Unfortunately, what often happens is that the more clients tell themselves to ignore their thoughts, the more they find themselves thinking about their problem. They become stuck in a cycle in which their solution perpetuates the problem by increasing their thoughts about the issue.
