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In much of our lives, we take action with relatively little thought about what we are doing. We live without observing ourselves living. At times, however, we are more aware of ourselves as actors and seem to be observing ourselves as we are acting. We are both observer and actor at the same time.
The degree and kind of heightened self-observation varies widely both within individuals and between individuals. The experience can be mild or intense, pleasant or unpleasant, transient or long-lasting. In some respects, such experiences are actively sought and promoted in most forms of psychotherapy, but somewhat similar experiences can be a major impediment to change and must be dealt with by the therapist.
In psychoanalytic therapies, the circumstances of the sessions promote a split between the “experiencing ego” and the “observing ego” which is critical for the therapeutic process. In behavioral therapies, “self-monitoring” is often a central feature of the therapy, and has been recognized as not just a source of data but a measure which is “reactive” i.e., the very act of closely observing one's behavior and experience seems to produce change in that behavior and experience.
Heightened self-observation can also, however, get in the way of therapeutic change. In analytic therapies, patients may become so thoroughly observers of themselves that they fail to act or feel. An arid intellectual ism then permeates the therapy. In behavior therapy, patients often are reluctant to role-play or try out new behaviors because they don't feel “real” in the new role. They watch themselves act in a new way and find it artificial because it contrasts with their image of who they really are.
The experience of the patient who is thereby reluctant to try new ways of living, and the experience of the analytic patient who “notices” things about himself, but cannot really feel them or integrate the new observations into his life pattern seem to bear important resemblances to phenomena of dep