Self-Awareness Therapy: What is self-awareness therapy?

What is Self Awareness Therapy?

Self awareness therapy is a process that a practitioner will use in assisting you with evaluating your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Instead of just talking about problem statements, symptoms or a diagnosis you will be looking at the *why* of your events or experiences. Self awareness therapy is not a ‘type’ of therapy however it is a component of many types of therapy, including mindfulness therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and person centred therapy/counselling for example.

Nevertheless, the aim of self awareness therapy is not to remove thoughts or feelings; it is intended to help people upgrade how they view self, and in the context of self awareness therapy to gain increased intentionality, clarity, and emotional resilience to their experience of thoughts, feelings – and ultimately behaviours.–

So, why is self-awareness important?

The acronym for self-awareness is awareness of your internal world – specifically your beliefs, patterns, feelings, and habits. Having more awareness of feelings can assist you to:

• Acknowledge the stimulus that triggers you, and therefore the emotional response,

• Disrupt negative emotional behavioural cycles,

• Communicate more effectively,

• Make better choices in integrity with core values, and

• Cultivate deeper and more authentic relationships with the world.

When self awareness encapsulates your experiences, you will likely notice that you are no longer fixated on viewing repetitiveness, and demonstrated behaviour and “ways of being” will likely take on a greater effect to you and your experiences of repetitiveness of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. You may describe experiencing tension, anxiety, and distraction, or a potentially compounded state of frequently referenced initial feelings of repetitiveness, and potentially relentless preoccupation.

A short story regarding Elena’s familiar epiphany

Elena was functioning well in her work as it pertains to her job, however she was eagerly frustrated. Each time her co worker produced their mini-map and even if there were not any details entered into the mini-map Elena was articulating her frustration, and, responding. Elena was astonished because at times it was very confusing for her to completely understand why she felt so crazy tense and frustrated, and why she experienced virtually no release.

Across months of her intake and subsequent sessions, during the engagement of one of her therapy sessions, her therapist introduced the practice of emotional tracking, and, suggested that she might journal. In her process of self-exploration journaling, Elena developed a familiar learned response involving a very large and serious consequence to making mistakes. As it turned out the anxiety of making mistakes in adult life took a huge amount of time unconsciously prioritizing mistakes/failure similarly to rejection.

As weeks passed, her authenticity was flourishing. She was learning to engage pause to notice values and authenticity before they turned into their predictable reactions. During this process, she was learning to engage pause, and ask for herself what it was she was feeling (frustration or rage), and quickly clarify for herself expectations of improving with a growth mindset think critically about existing assumptions. It is not a once-in-a-lifetime event, IT took her time – she went from an unhealthy compulsive person to a healthy and empathic person. For Elena, self-awareness described the path to not only emotional freedom but a different way to live.

What will Self-Awareness Therapy consist of?

If you are seeing a therapist that uses self-awareness therapy, you will likely work on:

🔹 Notice with no Judgement Notice your thoughts and feelings in the natural moment that they arise. Don’t try to change it or avoid it.

🔹 Make sense of and process the past Recognize how getting, dealing with, or worse, ignoring a past, opened the door to present behaviors and reactions.

🔹 Awareness of limiting, core-beliefs Become aware of your beliefs that you are unaware of – “I am not enough” or “”I must please everyone”.

🔹 Labels and Management Use a more sophisticated label of feelings so you can learn to manage your response to the stressor/situation and participate productively with others.

🔹 Be mindful! Find ways to practice being gradually present in the moment (whether it is navigating self-talk or just trying to empty your mind), so you can not only know yourself – but also reduce your anxiety or preoccupations, if only for the moment.

Tools and Techniques of Self-Awareness

• Therapy -Mindfulness Meditation -Guided Journaling (after self-reflection) -Body-as-Sense and somatic movements

• -Cognitive Restructuring

• -Expression via Art or Movement -Inside Child Exploration

• -Therapeutic Dialogue and Role Play These techniques create a setting for the client to not just think about what they are feeling, but *why* they are feeling it and what they are “okay” with doing about it.

A Few Advantages of Improving Self-awareness

• -The stress inside the body become manageable

• -Improved levels of emotional regulation -Improved interpersonal relationships at home and at work

• -Clarity of purpose and direction -Enlarged self-compassion and compassion for others Additionally, self-awareness leads to decision-making.

When you have more clarity about what you want in your life, you carry significantly less cognitive conflict about making decisions which are in alignment with your values.

Who would Passionate Self-awareness Therapy help?

Anyone who wishes to heal or grow as an individual – particularly those with: -Anxiety, worry or overthinking -Depression, hopelessness or burnout -Unexamined identity or low self-worth -Relationship to self and others -Responses to unresolved trauma -Difficulty managing emotional responses

In Closing

Self-awareness therapy is not about attaining perfection, it is about being *real* with yourself! It can help you learn how slow down, self-reflect, and listen! You can give yourself room for insights, and that can create a possibility to