Transforming Hardship Through Heartship: A Therapeutic Positive Autoethnography of Recovery Through Rereading and Rewriting Past Journal Entries

Authors

• Laura D. Russell, Denison University, Granville, Ohio, USAFollow

Abstract

Journal writing has long been recommended as a therapeutic practice for growth and healing. Receiving less attention, however, are techniques for revisiting past journal entries to learn from and/or expand them. What might autoethnographers and journalers alike discover about themselves and their potential for growth by looking back on and interacting with these entries through a positive inquiry lens? In the key of therapeutic positive autoethnography (ThePosAE), the author experiments with artistic, inquiry-evoking techniques to demonstrate how reflexively rereading and rewriting excerpts from one’s personal journal serves both generative and transformative purposes. Reflecting on and working with her personal journal chronicled throughout her eating disorder recovery, the author shows various creative practices for rereading, reimagining, and rewriting past journal entries in present time to illustrate her transformation through them. Through reconstructing her emotional experiences, including acknowledging them in places where they were once neglected, she shows how ThePosAE can be used to reconfigure past meanings in ways that reveal new pathways for future action and change.

Keywords

ThePosAE, reflexive inquiry, journaling, expressive writing, recovery

Author Bio(s)

Laura Russell is a Professor at Denison University, where she teaches courses in relational storytelling, health communication, and qualitative inquiry. Drawn to phenomenology, she explores how people render meaning for their embodied experiences in contexts involving human health, forgiveness, recovery, resilience, trust, and interpersonal/intercultural dynamics. Please direct correspondence to [email protected]

Publication Date

11-10-2026

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended APA Citation

Russell, L. D. (2026). Transforming hardship through heartship: A therapeutic positive autoethnography of recovery through rereading and rewriting past journal entries. The Qualitative Report, 31(11), 7163-7178.