Relationship Skills: Why is Self Awareness Important to You as an Individual and in Your Relationship?

In my last article, Relationship Skills: What is Self Awareness?, I began a discussion about self awareness and how it begins to develop in basic ways during childhood with the help of a primary caregiver.  

In this article, I'm focusing on adult relationships and why self awareness is an important relationship skill for you as an individual as well as for you in a relationship.

Self Awareness

What is Self Awareness?

As a recap from the previous article, let's define self awareness again.

Self awareness is the ability to:

• tap into your own feelings, thoughts and actions
• recognize your own strengths and challenges
• recognize how your feelings, thoughts and actions affect how you feel about yourself and others
• recognize other people's emotional needs and feelings
• recognize how you affect others
• recognize how other people see you (seeing yourself from their perspective)

Why is Self Awareness Important to You as an Individual?

Before we discuss why self awareness is important to a relationship, let's first discuss why it's important to you as an individual--regardless of whether you're in a relationship or not:

• Being able to identify your own thoughts, emotions and behavior allows you to grow as an individual.

• Being aware of your thoughts, emotions and behavior allows you to feel responsible for your overall well-being rather than relying completely on someone else.

• Being self aware allows you to be more aware of what you want and what you don't want.

• Having greater self awareness allows you to look at your own patterns so you don't continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.  Instead, you're able to observe yourself so you can grow from your experiences and make necessary changes.

• Being aware of patterns that haven't worked before allows you to reflect on what might work better in similar situations in the future.

Why is Self Awareness Important to You When You're in a Relationship?

• Being self aware is key to being in a healthier and happier relationship.

• Being self aware helps you to be attuned to your partner.

• Being self aware and attuned to yourself and your partner will help you to be more aware of how your actions will impact your partner, yourself and the relationship.

• Self awareness will help you to be more compassionate towards yourself and to your partner.

• Self awareness allows you to set boundaries with others because you're aware of what you want, what your partner wants and what you think will work best for the relationship (see my article: Setting Healthy Boundaries in Your Relationship).

Next article

In my next article, I'll focus on how to become more self aware.

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I am a sex positive therapist who works with individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.