Practices to Become More Authentic And their corresponding benefits.

Authenticity (along with meaning in life, freedom, and responsibility) is one of the main themes of existential psychotherapy. Consciously or not, authenticity is a common motif and yearning in most people’s lives. How many times have you heard, or have perhaps voiced yourself, expressions such as “I need to find myself” or “I need to discover who I am”?

Being authentic means aligning our actions with our values, beliefs, preferences, and motivations. Underlying the concept of authenticity is the notion of our true self versus our false, fake, superficial, pseudo, or inauthentic self. As human beings, we experience both an external self and an inner core, essence, and authentic self, not necessarily reflected in the external world.

Adolescents are particularly at risk of hiding their true selves because of increased displays of false self-behaviour as an attempt to deal with feelings that they may not be good enough for others. This display of false self by putting up a mask or façade, along with the suppression of true feelings and thoughts, leads them to experience a lack of voice, low self-esteem, and depressive symptoms.

It is as if, intuitively, such individuals come to psychotherapy because they feel the need to reduce or eliminate the gap between their true and false selves, to find out what’s really behind their masks. Psychotherapy offers them a journey into self-discovery.

Seven Practices to Become More Authentic

1. Strive to be yourself, as opposed to being popular.

2. Aim to know how you feel inside.

3. Notice the need to do what others expect you to do.

4. Don’t automatically do what others tell or expect you to do.

5. Don’t allow yourself to be influenced by the opinions of others.

6. Stand by what you believe in.

7. Live by your values and beliefs.

Seven Benefits of Being More Authentic

By regularly practising the above, you will progressively embrace authentic living, reduce the acceptance of eternal influences, and you will feel less alienated. As a result, you will be able to:

1. Develop a stronger sense of self by becoming more aware of your feelings, desires, and needs.

2. Become more assertive and state your needs in a calm and controlled manner while commanding authority and respect.

3. Build a strong sense of personal agency – your ability to make purposeful choices in life. That is, viewing yourself as being active in the world, as opposed to being relatively passive.

4. Feel empowered, capable, and proud of yourself. That is, you will build your self-esteem, develop self-confidence, a strong sense of self, and the capacity to undo the negative effects of internalized oppression, which has resulted from surrendering to the expectations of others.

5. Develop a capacity for self-direction and self-control. Through ongoing introspection and self-examination, you will be able to exercise deeper reflection, greater freedom, and more responsibility.

6. Cope better with adversity by setting the conditions to know yourself intimately, confront and deal with your real-life challenges, and fulfil your aspiration to become who you aspire to be.

7. Enhance your life satisfaction, well-being, and optimal psychological functioning.

Never be afraid or ashamed to engage in the quest to find your true self! In doing so, give up your comfort by resorting to your courage. Finally, remember that you don’t need to do this alone. So, consider finding yourself a caring, compassionate, and astute psychotherapist.