What Is Assertiveness Worksheet Template (Page 2 of 9) in pdf

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ASSERT YOURSELF!

What is Assertiveness?

We have all heard people say “You need to be more assertive!” But what exactly is

assertiveness? Assertiveness is a communication style. It is being able to express your

feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and opinions in an open manner that doesn’t violate the rights of

others. Other communication styles you may have heard of include being aggressive, which

is a style that violates the rights of others, and being passive where we violate our own

rights. You have probably also heard of passive-aggressive. This is where someone is

essentially being aggressive but in a passive or indirect way. For example, someone may be

angry but they don’t act in an overtly aggressive way by yelling or hitting, instead they may

sulk or slam a door.

Passive: Violates own

Assertive: Respects

Aggressive: Violates

rights. Others needs

both own needs and

rights of others. Own

given priority.

needs of others.

needs have priority.

Myths about Assertiveness

There are a number of myths about assertiveness. Some people use these as support for

why they shouldn’t try and be more assertive. It is worth having a look at these in more

detail. In Module 3, “Thinking in a more assertive way”, we will be taking a further look at

ways of thinking that stop us from being assertive, and then look at how we can go about

changing this thinking.

Myth 1: “Assertiveness is basically the same as being aggressive”.

Debunking the myth: Some people who are aggressive think they are being assertive

because they are stating what their needs are. It is true that both assertive and aggressive

communication involves stating your needs; however there are very important differences

between stating your needs assertively and stating them aggressively. There are differences

in the words used, the tone taken, and the body language used. We will discuss these

differences in more detail in the section on the verbal and non-verbal characteristics of each

of the communication styles.

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Module 1: What is Assertiveness

Page 2

nterventions

• Psychotherapy • Research • Training

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