LantryGuidesShadow work

Shadow Work Journal Prompts

Shadow work means looking at the parts of yourself you usually push away — reactions that feel too big for the situation, patterns you repeat and don't like, things about yourself you'd rather not admit. The prompts below are a starting point, not a full method — shadow work goes deeper than any prompt list, and that's worth saying upfront instead of pretending otherwise.

The prompts

Prompts to start with

  1. 01What's a reaction I've had recently that felt bigger than the situation actually called for?
  2. 02What's a trait I dislike in other people that I might also have, and don't like admitting?
  3. 03What do I do when I feel not good enough — and where did I learn to do that?
  4. 04What's a pattern I keep repeating in relationships, even when I don't want to?
  5. 05What part of myself do I hide from people I'm closest to, and why?

This is not therapy

Shadow work journaling can surface things that are genuinely heavy — old trauma, patterns tied to real harm, feelings you've avoided for years. A prompt list, including this one, isn't equipped to hold that. If a prompt brings up something that feels bigger than journaling can handle, that's a sign to bring it to a therapist, not a sign you're doing shadow work wrong. Journaling is a good way to notice a pattern; it's not the tool for processing deep trauma alone.

Why shadow work journaling gets weird

The reason shadow work prompts land differently than gratitude or reflection prompts is that they're designed to make you uncomfortable on purpose — the discomfort is often the signal that you've found something real. That also means it's easy to either shut down (skip the question, write something safe instead) or spiral (go too deep, too fast, alone). Neither extreme is the goal. The middle path is naming the uncomfortable thing in one honest sentence and stopping there — you don't have to resolve it in the same sitting you noticed it.

This is where a static list runs out: it can't tell when you've hit something real versus something safe. A conversation can. Lantry's Shadow Work practice is built to ask a real follow-up when an answer sounds like it's avoiding something — not to push you further than you want to go, but to not let you get away with the easy answer either.

What's a trait I dislike in other people that I might also have?
People who need constant reassurance. Kind of annoying, honestly.
Fair — when was the last time you needed that from someone and didn't ask for it directly?

Illustrative example of a Lantry session.

FAQ

What is shadow work journaling?

Writing that looks at the parts of yourself you normally avoid — repeated reactions, disliked traits in others that mirror your own, patterns you keep repeating — with the goal of noticing them rather than judging them.

Do therapists recommend shadow work?

Many do, as a self-reflection tool alongside therapy — not as a replacement for it. Shadow work journaling is good at surfacing patterns; a therapist is who you bring them to for anything that needs real processing.

Is a shadow work journal worth it?

The book/journal itself matters less than whether you actually finish the prompts honestly. A journal you write in for three days and abandon does less than a single honest paragraph written properly. The value is in the honesty, not the paper.

Looking for a different practice? See the full Journal Prompts for Mental Health guide.

A follow-up when you're avoiding something

Shadow Work is one of Lantry's guided practices — it asks a real follow-up when your answer sounds like it's avoiding something. Try it free.

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