Empowerment of Self Via Cognitive Approach

Self is an organised thought, emotion and behavior structure developed as a result of experiences and interactions with parents and other people throughout developmental process. Cognitive theorists explain self as a self-schema. The self schema about self determines our thinking way and which information we remember about ourselves. As self concept shapes thoughts and memory, interventions made to prevent and heal self related mental health problems should be based on cognitive approach. Use of cognitive approach for problems about self can be via self awareness, catching, analyzing and replacing automatic thoughts with realistic ones, when doing this realising one’s negative self attributions and cognitive errors, changing one’s coping patterns with stressful conditions. Nurses can face with people having self problems not only in psychiatric wards, but in general wards and community. Nurses’ being capable of realising and intervening this kind of problems is related firstly them to have a healthy self concept and then to have knowledge and ability to prevent and early diagnose this kind of problems. By this way by preventing and early intervening self related problems, mental health problems will be prevented, individuals will have a productive and happy life.