Reflect on how your early family experience contributed to your self-concept and self-esteem. (Only write about what you feel comfortable to writing about) Here are questions to help you write.
How do you define family and how many of these family types do you see in your life?
Attachment Theory –
Did you grow up in a home with stable caregivers who offered you feelings of security and worthiness? Or did you grow up in an unstable home where you experienced fears of abandonment?
Role –
What is your family birth order? Are you the oldest, middle, youngest child, or only child? Did you grow up in a blended family that caused your order in the family to change? How did your birth order affect your role in the family and sense of self?
What kinship roles did you play in your family, such as sister, brother, son or daughter? What “label” roles did you receive from others such as “the athletic one” or “the clumsy one”?
What are the family communication patterns in your family?
Effective Communication –
Review your answers to the preview four questions and reflect on how formative communication in your family may have influenced your self-concept and self-esteem, in the past and in the present. If some of the effects of your family communication had negative results, what steps might you take to reduce the impact on your self-concept and self-esteem in the future?
