For some, there is not much difference between journal therapy and writing a diary. However, this very much depends on the sort of diary entries that might be made in a journal. One that simply keeps a record of the day's events but which does not reflect on them would not be considered a form of journaling, for example. For a journal to be therapeutic, it really needs to be purposeful, in other words, a form of reflective writing that is actively engaged with attempting to express one's emotive state, experiences, thoughts and feelings. In some cases, a therapist will prompt what goes into each journal entry with a series of thought-provoking questions, which the journal writer will attempt to answer honestly. In other situations, a journal may be written more freely. It really depends on the context and how good the writer in question feels they are at expressing themselves.
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