Reflecting on the Year: A Therapeutic Year in Review
It’s almost 2024, and with that, we find ourselves making space to reflect upon the behemoth of 2023. This year has held so much weight for all of us. Whether it be a personal reflection, a professional reflection, or even a company reflection, taking the time to dissect this past year and understand what went right and wrong can help us plan a growth-oriented future.
Self-reflection can also provide various therapeutic benefits. First off, self-reflection can provide increased self awareness and understanding of your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. You can gain insights reflecting on your strengths and areas of improvement, and also understand how you can regulate your emotions more effectively going forward. Reflection can also help you develop a proactive approach to problem solving for future issues and make decisions that are aligned with your long-term goals and values. From stress reduction, to increased mindfulness, to improved self esteem, enhanced resilience, and clarification of your value, the benefits of self-reflection are endless.
We Rise's Year-in-Review
This year was absolutely incredible, with so many different workshops and events, and the opportunity to connect with wonderful people from across the country. We are proud to have hired three new therapists this year and to have expanded into Pennsylvania as a practice. We can’t wait to continue growing together and helping make an impact in the mental health space.
February 9th: Setting Healthy Boundaries for South/East Asian Women led by Chandni Pathak, MSW, LCSW
February 15th & 16th - Sold Out Culture Connections Workshop led by Hema Solanki, M.Ed, LPC
March 15th - Announced the official We Rise Rebranding
May 18th & 22nd - Navigating the Transition to Motherhood Workshop led by Neha Darji, MS, LPC, and Ruby Sekhon, MSW, LCSW, CCS
May 25th - Virtual Mental Health Month Community Chat led by Brown Girls Health
June 13th - Reclaim Yourself: Unlearning People Pleasing Workshop led by Hema Solanki, M.Ed, LPC
June - Sponsored the Mai Soli Foundation "For the Girls" Event
October 14th - Discovering your Authentic Self Workshop led by Chandni Pathak, MSW, LCSW
October - Sponsored the SALUTE Summit
December - We Rise Holiday Team Appreciation Dinner 2023
Reflecting on your year
If you’re like me, a simple how-to guide is all you need to do basically anything. Here’s our simplified guide to reflecting on your 2023.
- Gather Materials
- Grab a notebook, journal, or open a digital document.
- Collect any calendars, planners, or notes you kept throughout the year.
- Review Significant Events
- Go through your calendar or notes to recall key events.
- Highlight milestones, achievements, & memorable moments.
- Identify Highs & Lows
- Consider the emotional highs and lows you experienced.
- Reflect on what contributed to these emotional states.
- Assess Lessons Learned
- Identify any challenges you faced and what you learned from them.
- Reflect on personal growth, skills acquired, and lessons learned.
- Set Intentions for the Future
- Based on your reflections, set intentions for the upcoming year.
- Outline specific goals or areas of focus for personal and professional development.
When thinking about your year, remember to always keep a growth mindset. We have all made mistakes over the past year, and it’s important to view it from a learning perspective. Mistakes aren’t necessarily a bad thing; they’re a moment to grow as a person.
Gratitude Journaling
2023 had so many positive memories. Practicing gratitude for these moments can have a large positive impact on your wellbeing. Take a few minutes to create your own gratitude list and say thanks for all of the wonderful things that went right this year. Here are just some of the many benefits of practicing gratitude.
- Enhances overall psychological well-being.
- Boosts feelings of contentment and satisfaction.
- Associated with lower levels of stress and cortisol.
- Increases social connectedness and empathy.
- Promotes positive interactions and stronger relationships.
- Builds emotional resilience and the ability to bounce back from setbacks.
- Encourages individuals to focus on the positive aspects of their lives.
- Shifts focus from what is lacking to what is present.
- Cultivates awareness of emotions and their impact.
- Encourages a more empathetic and compassionate mindset.
- Linked to higher levels of motivation and goal attainment.
- Encourages a mindset of finding solutions rather than dwelling on problems.
Lessons Learned & Emotional Well-being
We all know 2023 was a challenging year for many people. Reflecting on past challenges can help build mental and emotional strength to cope with problems. You can also think about the new skills or personal insights you acquired through facing these challenges. From there, create an action plan for any changes you want to make, or lifestyle changes that you made due to challenges that have actually had a positive impact on your life.
A positive mindset is like the North Star for our challenges, and reflecting upon them can help us develop that positive mindset. How did you address your challenges this past year; what went well and what could you have done differently? Thinking about how you addressed your challenges can provide great insight into how your brain works and how you function as a human being.
End-of-Year reflections can provide insight into how you can improve your emotional well-being, too. As we talked about before, practice gratitude for the moment of joy and happiness you may have encountered. Use these moments as fuel for handling stress and adversity. You can also use your challenges as bouncing points for thinking about coping mechanisms that work for you to handle stress. Take those moments of vulnerability and challenge yourself to turn them into helpful strategies to cope.
Relationships
After reflecting on your own personal experiences throughout the past year, think about your relationships as well. Reflect on the quality of your relationships throughout the year- what was healthy and what was unhealthy? Which connections do you want to work on next year and how do you plan to foster deeper relationships throughout the new year. Take a moment to think about your family bonds as well, and how you coped with conflict and practiced effective communication. How did you prioritize your relationships this past year?
This is a great area for goal-setting for next year, too, and can help establish gratitude and appreciation for the connections you’ve made. The goal isn’t perfect relationships; the goal is figuring out how to go forward to create even more fulfilling, healthier relationships.
Setting Intentions for the future
Make sure to place this past year into the context of your long-term goals and aspirations. Are you on the right track? And, if not, what is your action plan for getting back on the road you want to be in? Or, how do you want to change this road to be happy with where you are?
Set your intentions for the upcoming year and personal goals. Follow SMART goal setting – be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Break down your goals into actionable steps that you can take to make those goals a reality. Set milestones, and constantly monitor your progress. You’re going to face challenges next year- be prepared and ready. You’re going to also encounter beautiful moments of achievements, success, and joy- cherish them and enjoy the moment.
It can be hard to relive a year filled with so many mixed emotions and memories, but embarking on your own therapeutic year in review can be so helpful in your personal growth journey, and is sure to bring you a fulfilling conclusion to 2023. Happy New Year everyone!