Authenticity
Alignment between what you feel and what you show.
How it shows up
It isn’t about always saying everything. It is that what you do say doesn’t contradict what you know about yourself. A long-running mismatch shows up as a tiredness that rest doesn’t cure.
What we do with it in therapy
Often the first thing we work out is where you adapted so early that you don’t even experience it as adapting.
See also
The four horsemen
Four ways of communicating which, in Gottman's research, most strongly predict a relationship breaking down: criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling.
Assertiveness
A way of expressing yourself that takes account of your needs and the other person's dignity at once.
Supervision
A therapist's regular professional consultation with a more experienced colleague — without any details by which a client could be identified.
