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Forms of Self-Reflection

Reflections lead the things, which have been precluded from consciousness, back into consciousness. You watch yourself, in a manner of speaking, and by doing this you notice what was precluded by the pure use of your patterns and through these patterns. For this you need the ability to distance yourself internally from your own self. This can be done in different ways: Firstly, you watch where and how you judge (good/bad, or right/wrong). Behind every judgment are hidden prejudices upon which you can reflect, and which are, very frequently, not at all conscious (e.g. you discover that behind the rejection of the boss’s control – ‘impossible’ – a fear of failure lies hidden. Secondly you can watch how you explain the situation (“He does not like me, so he won’t take my arguments seriously!”). Usually there are several alternative explanations, which are worth considering and which lie close to the different feelings and action impulses. Thirdly you can reflect upon how the situation can be described. Usually you are not aware how fractured, how incomplete, how generalised and how superficial this description is. Therefore, people are always surprised about how much changes, simply by the fact that they are describing the (problem) situation in detail to another person. This is the reason why a seemingly pure problem diagnosis or situational analysis is in itself already an intervention which enables change, i.e. it makes stagnant adherence to your usual viewpoint more difficult.

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