New book by St. Paul therapist guides self-examination through journaling

Maybe you've been struggling emotionally, but for whatever reason don't want to see a therapist. Or maybe you are seeing a therapist and would like to do some mental health homework between sessions. Or maybe you've seen a therapist for a while, feel ready to move on and want a tool to keep the process going.

That's where "Unapologetically Healing: Reflection and Generational Transformation" comes in, a journal-structured book designed to help readers look therapeutically inward.

Author Sheila Sweeney, a St. Paul psychotherapist, presents the book as an alternative to, prelude to, accompaniment to, or aftercare for therapy. A licensed social worker, Sweeney focuses on the intersection of mental health, reflective practice (techniques to aid self-examination) and psychosomatic awareness (recognizing connection between physical symptoms and psychological states).

The book is divided into sections featuring blank journaling pages addressing particular questions. Prior to each question, readers are asked to notice sounds, smells and other sensory stimuli, as well as their own moods — similar to what people often do at the beginning of yoga classes.

"I always use pausing and silence in reflective practice," Sweeney said. "Being reflective is like being more thoughtful; I like to think about it as thinking about what we're thinking about."

To help them organize their thoughts, the book contains prompts, such as "What fun things are you doing in your life?" "How much time do you waste when you think you're being productive?" "What kind of people do you attract?" and "What are you going through right now that is causing you pain?"

The prompts are "designed to guide you through a profound self-discovery journey around emotional wounds," Sweeney said. They may "bring up feelings of betrayal, failures or perceived failures and help you understand difficult experiences, whether smaller 't' traumas or major 'T' traumas."

As the book concludes, the prompts lead readers to analyze what they've learned and focus "on emerging from the depths of healing, dreaming bigger, establishing better boundaries and attracting healthier people and situations into your life," Sweeney said. "The concluding questions remind you that the work is ongoing, even after answering all the questions in the journal.".

But Sweeney also emphasized that readers need not start at the beginning. "You can start with whatever resonates with you in this journal. There is no need to go through the questions sequentially. Tune into what your body, brain and energy are urging you to experience. You can pivot as you see fit."

Making it approachable

Sweeney structured the book around prompts because she remembers, as a teenager, wanting to journal but not finding any journals that contained prompts.

"Every journal I could find was a blank-page journal, like a notebook; I always looked for something that was really cute on the outside," she said. "Growing up, I didn't know what things to talk about. Maybe my feelings of that day, but where do I go with this, how much do I write? I needed prompts."

The book is targeted partly — though not exclusively — to a Black audience. Many of Sweeney's clients are Black women, from college-age through top executives. It acknowledges the existence of generational trauma.

"I wrote in my own African American voice," she said. "I didn't try to change the tone or change my writing, I wrote in my own cultural tone so [readers can say] 'Ahhh, this is somebody talking to me. Somebody gets it. Somebody's writing in the vernacular I understand.' "

Angelita Scott, a longtime friend of Sweeney's, said the book feels "sacred."

"If you're afraid about journaling, she makes it approachable," Scott said. "I, for one, do not like to journal. ... [But] when I begin to page through her book and read the prompts and start to journal on the pages, it quiets me. I feel a sense of going deep within myself to do the work, and to me that kind of work is sacred work."

The book is coming out at a good time, given the turmoil of the past few years, including the pandemic and political divisiveness, said another longtime friend of Sweeney's, Estrella Carter.

"I bought copies for my daughter and myself," Carter said. "Sheila makes this tea that she created. I look forward to my daughter and I journaling together and having some of Sheila's tea."

At $49.99, Sweeney acknowledges that "Unapologetically Healing" is an expensive paperback.

"It's a hefty price, but it's close to equivalent of one medical co-pay for a weekly therapy session," she said. "It has 150 prompts, so there are three years' worth of sessions there."