The article was co-authored with Ruslan Kotenko Self-observation. Who is watching whom? If I am both subject and object at the same time, what should I pay attention to? There is no clear answer to these questions. As with observing something externally, it all depends on the task. When observing the behavior of an animal, you can pay attention to different things: coat color, anatomical features, reactions to external stimuli, and so on. But we have collected the most common objects of self-observation that we offer to clients when working with various psychological difficulties. Emotions This is generally the most common subject of introspection in psychology. You can notice what emotions you experience throughout the day, what they are associated with, what their strength is, what it depends on, how you express them, and so on. In general, if you are experiencing psychological difficulties, start by observing your emotions - this is useful for independent work, and even more so for working with a psychologist. Thoughts It seems that we just think thoughts - why watch them? You didn’t intend to think many thoughts, but they still arise. These are the ones that need special supervision. And internal speech is not similar to external speech: “to ourselves” we think in fragments of phrases, individual words, jumping from topic to topic, without thinking through each thought to its logical conclusion. Watch this process - there is something to be interested in. Images When working with clients, we usually put thoughts and images on the same page, but now we will show the difference between them. When you are faced with a difficult task, sometimes you think: “Holy crap!” This is a thought. And sometimes an image arises of how dreary and long all this will be, you remember past similar experiences, and already in advance imagine yourself without strength and with a lot of anger. These are images. They accompany us not only when we are intentionally waiting for something, but also at other moments. Watch them. Behavior Well, everything here seems to be quite simple. What am I doing right now? Why is this so? How does my behavior change in different circumstances? What do I want to do now, but I don’t allow myself? And so on. Behavior is generally one of the main objects of observation in psychology. But in life, if we discuss something, it will most likely be our own behavior and that of other people. Bodily state Our entire highly organized human psyche - the highest achievement of evolution - lives in the body and is inextricably linked with it. Moreover, due to the fact that the body is objective, from observing it you can receive more immediate feedback about what is happening to you. You might not have felt fear as an emotion yet, but your body has already tensed, your breathing has stopped. True, in order to observe the body better, it is useful to introduce activities during which you study your body. This could be anything - from running to a theater group. The main thing is that you have to differentiate different bodily states and it is advisable to name them. This is the basics. One way or another, any psychological issues require good contact with your emotions, thoughts, images, behavior and body. You can get more information about psychology in an accessible language in my VKontakte group “Psychological Guide"