TWI Spring Term 2026
All classes are delivered online, and cost $445 (special event prices are noted). CJF/CJT/CAS trainees receive the discounted price of $395. Classes eligible for CEUs offer 16 hours of continuing education for counselors upon verification of satisfactory course completion and submission of course evaluation. See below for CE details.
MORE ON CEUs: The Center for Journal Therapy is an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP) through the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for programs that meet NBCC requirements. Programs for which NBCC-approved clock hours will be awarded are identified with an asterisk (*). These courses are taught by licensed or licensure-prepared mental health professionals. The ACEP is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. Participants are responsible for checking with their state’s licensing board for their discipline to ensure that National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) continuing education is accepted.
Course List
(click a class to learn more):
TW513.1: The Adams Method
PA501: Psychology of Differences
TW596.1: Pen and Practices: Adventures in Mindfulness on the Page
TW558: Poetic Forms for Poetry and Journal Therapists
TW479: Journal Tales from the Trees
TW554: Ink and Image: Finding Ourselves Anew Through Visual Journaling
TW491: Our Spring Animal Teachers
TW513.1 – The Adams Method
Instructor: Carolyn Koehnline, LMHC, CJT
Kathleen Adams is considered a primary theorist in the field of journal therapy, along with Ira Progoff and James W. Pennebaker. You’ll read, discuss and write from two of her books: The Way of the Journal, and Scribing the Soul.
CEUs Available.
CJF/CJT Requirement
Required Text: The Way of the Journal and Scribing the Soul by Kathleen Adams. We no longer carry The Way of the Journal, but both books can be easily found on Amazon.
PA501: Psychology of Differences
Instructor: Elaine Brooks, MA, RN-BC, PTR, CAPF, M/S
This survey course on contemporary issues in mental health is designed to raise awareness about the prevailing causes, responses and treatment of mood disorders, traumatic stress responses, disorders of childhood/adolescence/the elderly, dysfunctional family of origin issues, sexual identity, etc.
CEUs Available.
CJF Requirement unless transferred or waived.
Required Text: None, Internet Reading
TW596.1: Pen and Practices: Adventures in Mindfulness on the Page
Instructor: Deborah Ross, M.A., LPC, CJT
Join us at the intersection of eastern spiritual traditions and modern neuroscience as we practice Mindfulness with our pen and journal. Mindfulness is a particular way of paying attention that invites greater well-being through grounding, centering and stabilizing. It is the superhighway to the installation of new neural pathways for our well-being. If you don’t have a mindfulness practice, this course will help you develop one that uses writing as the primary modality. If you already have a mindfulness practice, this course will add dimensions and depth to your results. There will be new material from the research that supports “small moments, many times.”
A pocket journal is suggested.
CEUs available
TW Elective
Required Text: “How to Train a Wild Elephant.” by Jan Chozen Bays
TW558: Poetic Forms for Poetry and Journal Therapists
Instructor: Nancy Scherlong, LCSW, PTR, CJT, M/S
Stumped by sestinas, vexed by villanelles or allergic to alliteration? Join us for this interactive course wherein we will study and practice writing various poetic structures, examine their application to poetry or journal therapy and learn some of the psychology behind different types of creative writing. Each week will feature three different forms or literary devices coupled with (no pun intended) exploration of application with our writing groups, in accordance with the structure, pacing and containment of the journal ladder. Applicable for clinicians or developmentalists alike.
CEUs Available.
TW Elective
Required Text: 2nd Edition of The Handbook of Poetic Forms by Ron Padgett (available through Amazon.com), and internet resources.
TW479: Journal Tales from the Trees
Instructor: Hanna Merin, MSc, CJF
Come along on a surprising and rooted writing journey to explore the family tree, using the family genogram as a roadmap. The words and narratives will help us crack the code of inner treasure and teach us the way to meaningful understanding, “aha” moments, and perhaps even compassion and reconciliation with the past. Be prepared to bring photos from then and now, colors, a journal, writing instruments that you love. Come on an illuminating journey that connects past, present, and future, through words, memories, and an open heart.
CEUs NOT Available.
TW Elective
Required Text: None
TW554 – Ink and Image: Finding Ourselves Anew Through Visual Journaling
Instructor: Evie Lindemann, LMFT, ATR-BC, ATCS
This course using visual journaling techniques explores the integration of expressive writing, art imagery, and symbolism as a pathway to insight and presence. Drawing on visual journaling practices and Jungian active imagination, the course invites participants to engage the senses, track emotional movement, and creatively explore stress responses. Through writing with images and emerging symbols, participants cultivate reflection, creativity, and a quieter, more receptive inner state – supporting facilitators by offering approaches that naturally extend beyond personal practice into relational, group, and teaching contexts.
CEUs Available
TW Elective
Required Text: The New Creative Journal by Anne-Marie Jobin, Inner Thread Publishing, 2021. Highly recommended but not required: An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper (published by Thames and Hudson, 1979).
TW491 – Our Spring Animal Teachers
Instructor: Linda Barnes, MS, CJF, CAPF
Humans are one species within a living, interconnected world. In this spring course, we’ll explore animals as guides—observing their behaviors, patterns, and ways of being as mirrors for our own lives. Through weekly reflective writing practices, participants will consider how animal wisdom can offer insight into change, resilience, and renewal. This class invites curiosity, observation, and creative reflection, offering space to notice what we can learn from our wider creature community and how those lessons might quietly shape daily lives.
CEUs Available
TW Elective
Required Text: None
Ethics Course
We are now providing a 6-hour guided independent study, Ethics course that meets the requirements for the National Federation of Biblio/Poetry Therapy (NFBPT) credentialing as well as our Therapeutic Writing Institute (TWI) credentialing.
Tuition is $100.00 ($50 for TWI Trainees and $75 for CAPF/CPT/PTR Trainees), which includes an emailed CE Certificate or Certificate of Completion. For more information and to register for this course: https://journalversity.journaltherapy.com/courses/227/about