Five coaching journal prompts to help your clients process emotions and shift from overwhelm to calm
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Hello friends! Let’s talk about how to use precise journal prompts to help your clients shift from emotional overwhelm to feeling calm.
I’m Shikah and I’m a former counsellor who helps coaches get more leads and sales with content marketing. Let’s get straight to a content idea you can share with your audience.
If you have had clients who find it difficult to identify their emotions, if they get stuck in a loop feeling the same negative emotions over and over again, or if they analyse their emotions using too much logic instead of embracing those emotions, then this video or podcast ep can help you.
Well-thought-out journaling prompts are not just empty questions, they can start inner conversations if someone actually pauses and reflects on the prompts seriously.
If you want a copy of these 5 prompts, just key in your email and I will send it to your inbox.
Prompt number 1 is “What are 3 emotions I am feeling right this moment?'“
Emotions are nuanced, and writing just one emotion on a piece of paper cannot provide depth or undertsanding of your own emotions. Hence, encourage your clients to write 3 to 5 emotions they are feeling in the moment. For example, their response can be “The 3 emotions I am feeling right now are: slightly frustrated, boredom and a little anxiety.”
This trains them to be more self-aware and be more in touch with their emotions. We rarely just feel one emotion at one time, we feel quite a few. And these few emotions can be caused by a few events. To understand our triggers, it is always helpful to pinpoint 3 - 5 emotions we are feeling at any one moment.
Prompt number 2 is “Where in my body do I feel these heavy emotions?”
This encourages your clients to tune in to your body and be present. They may answer something along the lines of “I feel as though there is a weight in between my shoulder blades”, “I feel a churning in my stomach”, “I feel heavy in my heart space (or chest area)”, “I feel tension around my forehead.” This places them as an observer of their emotions rather than being engulfed by those emotions. This prompt will also boost their self-awareness. The more specific they can describe those emotions and pinpoint the physical location of them, the more self-awareness they have.
At this point, you may be wondering if you can get a copy of these prompts so you can share them with your audience. That’s why I want you to download my free coaching journal prompt ideas do you can use it as a lead magnet to grow your list.
Simply key in your email address above to get your copy for free.
Now with that out of the way, let’s move on to the next coaching journal prompt to help your clients shift from overwhelm to calm.
Prompt number 3 is “What are the likely triggers of these emotions?”
I know that this prompt can be very challenging because your clients have to come face-to-face with their mistakes or negative past. If we approach this prompt gently, it can be very helpful for them to not repeat past mistakes and make better, wiser decisions. The triggers can be as simple as “I feel frustrated because of my exhaustion today - and this is triggered by me sleeping past midnight yesterday.”
The emotional triggers can also be poor time management, lack of direct communication with people, not having clear goals and more. You can always prompt your clients to set a timer for 5 minutes and write non-stop about what they intuitively feel are the triggers for their negative feelings. You can remind them to be as honest, raw and as uncensored as possible so that this journaling can be a form of emotional release. Nobody needs to read their writing, so they can be truly honest with themselves and destroy the writing afterwards.
Prompt number 4 is “What stories am I telling myself about my emotions and situation - and are they 100% true?”
This is where your clients have to pause and reflect if their possibly negative perspective is causing them to feel a certain way. For example, if your client is a freelance artist and her friend made an off-hand comment about freelance workers being irresponsible, does your client take that personally and feel hurt? Does she tell herself that her friend is throwing shade at her and starts withdrawing from this friend?
If this happens, your client can ask herself this question: “Is my assumption 100% true? If not, what else can be true?”
Your client can stretch her creativity and write down 5 different ways of interpreting this situation.
Perhaps her friend who made this so-called hurtful comment was simply projecting her frustration about her own family member who happens to be a freelance worker and is irresponsible. Or perhaps that friend was being defensive about her personal decision to be a workaholic. Or she may be echoing her inner critic and ego which equate her self-worth to a high-paying job.
From this cognitive reframing example, you can see that there are many angles for us to explore just one comment made by someone else. Your client can use this coaching journal prompt to diffuse any anger, hurt or fear they may feel when on the receiving end of a negative comment.
Prompt number 5 is “What can I do right now to honour these emotions in a healthy way?”
As a coach, this is where you guide your clients to take the action they need to do - not the action they are tempted to do. When they feel stressed out at work, the temptation to lash out and take their frustration out on family members can be strong. Or your clients may be tempted to numb the stress out by eating excessively, drinking, watching Netflix till late hours or other unhelpful coping methods.
You can gently point out the difference between reacting to their stress and honouring their stress. Honouring their stressed-out emotions and other negative emotions can look like calling a trusted friend for support, talking to a therapist, journaling out their emotions, proactively planning how to set healthy boundaries at work, indulging in a hobby or going to the gym to release pent-up anxiety.
If they are lost and not sure what to do to honour their emotions, they can simply pick up a pen and a notebook to journal continously for 10 minutes using the 5 prompts we have discussed in this video. Encourage them to get as raw, as unfiltered and as authentic as possible to shift those emotions and feel calmer.
Now you know the 5 coaching journal prompts to help your clients process their emotions, you may be wondering how you can use these prompts for your coaching business.
If that’s you, download the free coaching journal prompts and use them as a lead magnet to grow your email list. Simply go to the link in my description box to get your copy for free.
If you want to launch your own signature journaling masterclass, you can also check out my done-for-you masterclass which you can use and sell to your clients.
I’ll see you in my next video, goodbye.
