Dear Diary: Catharsis and Narratives of Aloneness in Adolescents' Diaries

This research is designed to shed light on the subjective experience and the healing quality of diary writing during adolescence. At the focus are three women, today aged between 25 and 27, Liron, Yifat and Rotem, and their adolescent diaries. A model of diary catharsis is offered in order to examine the diary writing process. The methodology is qualitative and is based on aesthetic-narrative inquiry in which aesthetic content analysis was conducted on the diary texts according to the diary catharsis model. Finally, two in-depth interviews with each woman added to the understanding of the experience of diary writing from their unique perspectives. Research findings attest to fractional catharsis in adolescent diary writing and reveal its healing quality. The experience of diary writing exposes narratives which express the somatic and aesthetic experience of diary writing–loneliness, relationships with parents, sexuality, aloneness and the need to communicate with God.