page two
The evidence behind
the practice
Jälki is an emotional awareness practice in a field notebook. It is not a treatment, and it has not been trialled. What follows is what the research can reasonably support behind each part of it — and where it stops.
PIN
Capture closer to the moment
Research methodology strongly supports the idea that retrospective reports can be affected by recall bias, which is why ecological momentary assessment samples experience closer to when it happens. Jälki borrows that measurement principle.
Where it stops: This does not mean that pinning has itself been shown to improve wellbeing. Jälki has not been trialled.
NAME
Build a more precise emotional vocabulary
Emotion differentiation is the ability to make finer distinctions between emotional experiences. Higher differentiation is often associated with more adaptive regulation and wellbeing.
Where it stops: Causality and measurement remain active research questions, and one experience-sampling experiment found that emotion-language scaffolding increased negative-emotion differentiation without significantly improving psychological symptoms during the study.
REFLECT
Put experience into words
Affect labelling has measurable behavioural and neural effects, but they are context dependent. In one fMRI study, labelling was associated with lower amygdala responses to negative images.
Where it stops: Other experiments found that naming an emotion before reappraisal or acceptance can make the subsequent regulation less effective. So Jälki promises clarity, not “name it and you will feel better”.
WRITE
Optional longer reflection
Expressive-writing research is mixed. Some populations and outcomes benefit; others show little or no improvement. A review of 24 randomised trials found different effects from expressive versus positive writing rather than one universally superior method.
Where it stops: This is why long-form writing in Studio stays optional, and why Jälki never requires a page from you.
ATLAS
Look across time
Repeated records can reveal temporal associations that a single retrospective judgement misses. Atlas suggests patterns from your own entries, and every suggestion points back to the moments it came from. You decide whether it fits.
Where it stops: Patterns are hypotheses, not diagnoses and not causes. Atlas is entry-linked pattern discovery, not clinical assessment.
GROUND
Return attention to the present
Regulated breathing has encouraging evidence for reducing stress and anxiety, although protocols vary widely. A systematic review of 58 studies found many interventions beneficial, generally where instruction was adequate and sessions repeated.
Where it stops: That is why Ground is a five-minute practice rather than a one-magic-breath claim.
Not a clinical service
Jälki does not diagnose, treat or monitor any condition. If something you notice here worries you, take it to a clinician rather than to the app.
Safety, privacy and crisis helpWant the human reason instead? Read “Before It Edits” →
Full reading list, sorted by kind of claim: the Library shelf →