Self-Awareness Through Dis-Closure, Feedback and Reflection.
Throughout this assignment I shall discuss how I have developed my self-awareness through dis-closure, feedback and reflection.
“Being self-aware enables us to identify our strengths and also those areas that can be developed” (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p47), self-awareness is continually being developed through the reflection of our life experiences. Reflection of my life experiences has given me the opportunity to become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses through being honest and the use of disclosure firstly to myself and then to others. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle 1998 is a useful model for reflecting on a life experience to gain further self-awareness through evaluation and analysis to finally having an action plan identifying what would be done differently in the future.
“The more knowledge we have about ourselves, the easier it becomes to relate to others” (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p47), the self-concept (Murphy 1947, Argyle 1969, Burns 1980) enables us to learn more of our self through self-image, self-esteem and the self-ideal, by reflecting on each of these three parts in regard of myself I have determined that I see myself as being confident with a high self-esteem which I find makes me a friendly and approachable person however I have also realised that I have to listen more to receive feedback. “When we try to see and feel the world from another person’s perspective, we are trying to be empathic. If we are successful, we will not just be able to understand the persons thoughts but also feel something of what they feel” (G Firth, R Berry, C Irvine 2010 p148) within my past career path of working with people with learning disabilities with an inability to communicate it has enabled me to develop my empathy and consideration for others, which is not to be confused with sympathy but is more of a connection towards somebody else’s feelings. By developing my connection to other people’s feelings who are unable to communicate verbally it
“Being self-aware enables us to identify our strengths and also those areas that can be developed” (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p47), self-awareness is continually being developed through the reflection of our life experiences. Reflection of my life experiences has given me the opportunity to become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses through being honest and the use of disclosure firstly to myself and then to others. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle 1998 is a useful model for reflecting on a life experience to gain further self-awareness through evaluation and analysis to finally having an action plan identifying what would be done differently in the future.
“The more knowledge we have about ourselves, the easier it becomes to relate to others” (R Ashmore & D Banks 2000 p47), the self-concept (Murphy 1947, Argyle 1969, Burns 1980) enables us to learn more of our self through self-image, self-esteem and the self-ideal, by reflecting on each of these three parts in regard of myself I have determined that I see myself as being confident with a high self-esteem which I find makes me a friendly and approachable person however I have also realised that I have to listen more to receive feedback. “When we try to see and feel the world from another person’s perspective, we are trying to be empathic. If we are successful, we will not just be able to understand the persons thoughts but also feel something of what they feel” (G Firth, R Berry, C Irvine 2010 p148) within my past career path of working with people with learning disabilities with an inability to communicate it has enabled me to develop my empathy and consideration for others, which is not to be confused with sympathy but is more of a connection towards somebody else’s feelings. By developing my connection to other people’s feelings who are unable to communicate verbally it
References: Egan G 1990, You and Me-The skills of communicating and relating to others. Brooks/Cole, California Essential of Human Communication (Joseph A Deviot) Fifth Edition 2004 Patterns of self-disclosure among mental health nursing students, R Ashmore & D Banks 2000, Nurse education today (2001) 21,48,57 Harcourt Understanding Intensive Interaction (G Firth, R Berry, C Irvine) 2010 Jessica Kingsley