Welcome to the Course about the Sense of Self Method
The purpose of this course is to help you get in touch with and fully express your authentic self. Being able to leave behind all traces of the need to get other people’s approval, allows you to become yourself and live your life freely and based on your own potential. This incredible shift in your thinking will reduce your feelings of depression, anxiety and negative self-talk.
Each unit will feature a specific lesson to help you develop an understanding of the theory behind the Sense of Self Method and get a clear insight into the healthy or unhealthy nature of your own Sense of Self. Step by step you will learn to apply this knowledge to your self and your own situation. The result is that you will be able to make different choices in crucial life-directing matters, which can lead to considerable improvement in your quality of life.
As you begin this online series we invite you to consider the following question: Is it necessary to hold on to behavior patterns that are no longer serving you?
The Benefits of gaining a Healthy Sense of Self are:
At the beginning of each Unit, clear cut benefits will be pointed out so you know what you can look forward to–when you have completed the course. Three benefits from having a Healthy—or Restored—Sense of Self are:
- Being happier in all aspects of your life
- Better chance to find, give and receive love
- Better overall health
- Reduction in anxiety, depression, insomnia, and self-destructive habits.
GLOSSARY
For your convenience, here is a downloadable/printable PDF Glossary, or you may visit the Glossary on our website. (The glossary on the website contains links to extended and more detailed information on each term. Please note that it also contains some additional terms not addressed in this course.)
NEW SENSE OF SELF TERMS
In each unit, you will learn two or three of the 40+ terms that are specific to the SoS Method. It is important that you familiarize yourself with these concepts as they help you identify and modify what needs to change. The SoS Method’s Key Terms will use the following abbreviations. A link to these (or a pop-up) will be available in each unit.
- SoS – Sense of Self
- HySoS – Healthy Sense of Self
- NatSoS – Natural Sense of Self
- SSoS – Substitute Sense of Self
- SSoS-orSys – Substitute Sense of Self-Oriented System
- LoSoS – Lack of Sense of Self
- Fgas – “Feel-good-about-self”
- EgoRef – Ego-Reference
- ECSS – Early Childhood Survival Strategy
- QoL-level – Quality-of-Life level
- RestSoS – Restored Sense of Self
- IPV – Internalized Parental Voice
Our first Sense of Self (SoS) term is:
Definition: Healthy Sense of Self (HySoS)
The ability to experience and be present to your own person and to your own life and recognize both as uniquely owned by YOU. That includes the right to live and be as Your-Self and experience your innermost core as your ultimate home from where you live your life.
You have enough self-awareness, personal power, and presence of mind to make choices based on your own preferences, tastes, and values, regardless of the influences of parents, teachers, peers, and society.
The skill of Being Your Self is often taken for granted. Some people can do it, while others have no idea how to be themselves. And a third group is convinced they are being their genuine, authentic self, but only because they don’t know the difference.
This course is ideal if you have doubts about knowing who you really are. Maybe you feel something is off in your deepest sense about yourself, but you can’t say exactly what it is. Taking this course will make you better equipped to create and maintain a positive relationship with your Self. If you do not have a problem being yourself, it’ll help you understand what others go through at times—maybe your friend or loved one, or even your customer or client—this course could give you that edge and result in you dealing with others in more positive and constructive ways.
Please stay open to exploring the nature of your Sense of Self, even if you feel doubt or reluctance—and especially if you feel resistance! Consider the possibility that your Sense of Self is not as healthy as you think it is and, if you discover that is the case for you, know that the situation can be remedied. In each unit we offer details and examples on the key terms in relation to the subject of the unit and on what is addressed in the video.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
Each unit will have a selection of questions and prompts to guide you into looking deeper within your Self and your history. These will help you get acquainted with your Self and discover the roots of your Motivations and Hidden Goals.
READING
In each unit you will find selected readings from the 1st edition of the SoS book:
- Healthy Sense of Self, How to be true to your Self and make your world a better place!
- Also available on Amazon is the revised edition (2023) under the title: “Healthy Sense of Self, The Secret to Being Your Best Self”
You will find the selected reading here and in a downloadable PDF file. Here is the selected reading from the Preface.
ACTIVITY
Each unit has an activity that is related to the new key terms and/or to the objective of the unit and that is also a building block for future units.
Your activity for the Introduction is to:
Create a Learning Agreement between YOU and Your Self! You will find the materials for the activity and an explanation of how to do this in the PDF link below. Become totally aware of your main goal when you decide to register for this online course. Please sit down and write an agreement with your Self to meet this goal. It will set the tone for your experience of this coursework.
QUOTES FROM THE GUIDED JOURNAL
Each unit will contain a quote from our Guided Journal for you to contemplate. (available on Amazon)
The quote for this Introduction:
Day 116
WE people
with a Healthy Sense of Self
have no need to fight others for fear that they will
take away
our opportunity
to “Feel-good-about-ourselves.”We don’t have to get that feeling from outside!
Feeling good about ourselves
is our default state.We feel alive!
We would like to encourage you to take a few minutes each and every day, to sit down with your Self in mind and experience yourself in your body. Explore how you are feeling. There is no right or wrong. The point is to cultivate your skill of sensing your Self, which will help you to become more convinced that: You already ARE (existing) — you do not have to earn your self!
RECAP
In each future unit, we will give a recap of the concepts and ideas you were introduced to and offer a short quiz with a few questions to check whether you have a good understanding of the unit. We also offer some reflective questions for you to use to fully integrate the main ideas of the lesson and develop actionable steps and goals for yourself that are personally meaningful.
RECAP for the Introduction
We began by having you look into the importance of being able to sense your Self. We had you consider the question of whether you see value in freeing yourself of specific old behaviors that no longer seem to serve you in the present. We encouraged you to take some time to answer questions and create your Learning Agreement with yourself.
Sensing your Self is an important skill to have if you want to live your life as the healthy, happy person you know you can be. Taking this course will lead you to look deeply inside yourself so you can recognize and effectively modify patterns of behavior that, so far, have impeded you from reaching your true potential.
*IMPORTANT NOTE* All comments left on the course are PUBLIC to course takers and Healthy Sense of Self employees. If you would like to send a private comment please email antoinetta@healthysenseofself.com