SFL- I write all the time. I carry paper- any sort with me and just write. It is like talking to a professional friend (therapist) but free. It also gives me (with date/time/place) a snap shot of my thinking. Journal writing is like professional scrap booking with balls.
I liken myself (admittedly my decline to infamy was much more extreme than most) to being an emotional child when I sobered up. I reacted to the pain, loneliness, foreseen rejection...as a child would. THAT is my challenge now.