How therapy helps self-knowledge

We tend to take it for granted that we know each other well. However, the truth is that many people live without really knowing each other. They are true strangers to themselves. Maybe they know what your favorite flavor or color is but they are not able to figure out your main weakness, or your deepest fears. And it is that, although we do not like to admit it, the reality is that we do not know more than we know about ourselves.

Do you know where your fear of heights or the dark comes from? Do you know what your talents are? Have you ever thought about what really makes you anxious? Many of us would not be able to honestly answer these questions. Knowing oneself is much more complicated than we think. In the words of Saint-Exupèry: “You will judge yourself. It is the most difficult. It is much more difficult to judge yourself than to judge others. If you manage to judge yourself well, it is because you are a true sage.”

However, if we want to resolve our conflicts, overcome our internal barriers and grow as people, we must embark on a journey within ourselves.

A journey of self-knowledge that allows us to discover who we really are or what we want for our lives, and help us fully accept ourselves with our lights and shadows.

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Self-knowledge, the art of knowing yourself

Many of us spend much of our lives on autopilot. We make our decisions below the radar of our conscience without questioning what we think or feel at each moment. This helps us to simplify our day to day life and saves us an enormous amount of energy. The problem arises when we operate on autopilot for so long that we are not even aware of our behaviors, thoughts and emotions. So, we lose control over them; they begin to control us.

However, we could avoid this if we were only able to look inside ourselves from time to time. Self-knowledge is not only vital to understand ourselves better, glimpse why we act in a certain way or why we feel one emotion and not another, but also It allows us to make better decisions and focus on those goals that will help us build the life we ​​want.. Basically, it helps us stop living reactively and start living proactively.

And through that lifelong journey of introspection, we learn to accept ourselves as we are, and we embrace our strengths and those shadows that we don't like so much but that are also part of us. We learn to take control of our lives and take responsibility for our well-being and happiness, being aware that, although we cannot choose the circumstances, we can decide how to respond to they. Thus, we stop wasting precious energy on the things that we cannot change to focus on those that really make a difference.

Knowing ourselves also allows us to become aware of negative habits or toxic environments that hurt us and discover the skills we need to develop to become the people we want to be. When we have exhaustive self-knowledge, we learn to live with purpose and intention and give meaning to our existence. In this way, we will be able to discern what is essential from what is superfluous and be clear about our values ​​in order to follow the path we have chosen.

Of course, the path of self-knowledge is unique. Each person lives this journey of inner discovery in a different way. However you live it, along that journey you may need different psychological tools to delve into the deepest part of you, discover your deepest "I" and begin to heal your wounds. In this sense, psychological therapy can become an excellent ally to guide you all the way and provide you with the appropriate resources.

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5 Ways Therapy Helps You Know Yourself

Self-knowledge is one of the pending subjects in our lives. For this reason, many psychotherapy sessions dedicate time to fostering introspection and self-knowledge. An essential stage in which you will not only be able to learn to know and accept yourself, but you will be able to grow as person as you are able to analyze your weak points, recognize your strengths and develop your self-confidence. In this sense, therapy will provide you with the tools to achieve the following.

1. Make your emotions aware

We all experience emotions, but we are not always able to accurately recognize and name them. In this way, we can end up living on an emotional roller coaster that, sooner or later, will cause imbalances. The good news is that with the tools that therapy gives you, you will be able to become aware of your emotions and understand how they influence your thoughts and behaviors, as well as the influence that your ideas and behaviors have on your emotional states.

You will also learn to pay attention and interpret the physical reactions that generate those emotions, from the unpleasant sensation of having a lump in the throat to that tickle in the stomach, a pressure in the chest or a galloping sensation of heat. And, after this introspection work, you will be able to begin to understand why you feel those emotions and not others, and what is the cause that provokes them, the first step to learn to manage them better.

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2. reflect on your thoughts

we are what we think. Our thoughts have more power over us than we think. They can give us the motivation we need to jump into action and achieve our dreams or, conversely, make us believe that we are not good enough to try. The worst thing is that many times we are not even aware of those thoughts that, in some cases, have been with us for decades.

In these cases, having some introspection tools can help you reflect on your thoughts and discover those internal barriers that prevent you from developing. In addition, it will help you detect where they come from, why they have penetrated so deeply into you and how they are influencing your mental stability. In this way, you can start working to eliminate them and include more positive ideas instead.

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3. Identify your beliefs and stereotypes

We all get carried away by beliefs and stereotypes in our day to day. Within seconds of meeting someone, even without saying a word, we already have a theory about who he is. This it can guide our way when we find ourselves in unknown terrain, but it can also become an obstacle to our development.

Ultimately, that jumble of irrational beliefs and ideas ends up guiding our decisions and behaviors.

Fortunately, when you have the proper resources in therapy, you are able to detect these beliefs and stereotypes. You will realize that many of them you have learned as a child, others have been instilled in you by society and there will be some that you have shaped yourself according to your experiences in the past. Learn to identify them and realize how limiting they are it is essential so that you can rethink them and adopt a more positive perspective.

• Related article: "Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination: Why Should We Avoid Prejudging?"

4. Rethink everything you take for granted

As we get older, that curiosity we felt as children escapes us and we stop asking ourselves questions. Thus, we also stop questioning what is happening around us and within ourselves, and we begin to accept everything passively. At that precise moment, our critical thinking shuts down and we begin to live on autopilot. But nevertheless, when we start a therapy and we begin to rediscover ourselves, we recover that lost curiosity.

In this way, you will begin to ask yourself new questions, and your possibilities, which were previously very limited, will become practically infinite. You will become a freer and more creative person because you will finally understand that although you have always done something in one way, it does not mean that it is the only possible way. Those questions will be a sign that you begin to break with the established limits and begin to see things from another perspective.

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5. Clarify your goals and priorities

We all have priorities and goals in life, but it is important to be clear about them or we risk drifting away from them with every wind of change. Or what is worse, that other people decide for us and determine what we should do with our lives. There will always be someone willing to tell us what to do and how.

However, when you have the right tools that therapy gives you and you start looking inside yourself, you are able to figure out what you really want to do and your priorities will take shape. This is the first step in taking back control of your life and starting to take responsibility for your decisions.

Traveling within yourself is perhaps one of the most complicated journeys that await you in life, but as you go discovering that "I" that lives within you, many things will begin to make sense and you will feel more and more motivated to look into your inside. The first step to begin to resolve all your conflicts and begin to transform yourself into the person you want to be.