What is Honest Reflection?

 

A Personal Perspective of Honest Reflection

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful” (Wheatley ,2010).

To be effective, reflection embraces a blame free culture, where we can be truthful and honest with each other. Without fear of criticism or blame (HCPC 2024).

Honest reflection delves beneath the surface. We are required to open ourselves up, be willing and truthful. We need to comprehend how our actions and behaviour can affect those around us (Main 2023).

Personal development and self-awareness require us to recognise our strengths as well as our weaknesses, it's okay to show vulnerability and in doing so we not just reflect and celebrate our successes but also identify our errors and accept accountability.

Honest reflection allows open conversations in a safe environment, without fear of being judged. This will rely on us being accountable, trusting and honest. We should be open to honesty, while showing a willingness to hear others.

Honest reflection is not to be overly critical with ourselves or others, but to focus on growth and learn from our past experiences. Be willing to open up, be truthful and vulnerable. This will encourage self-awareness. Drawing on our past experiences will help us to adopt better decision making, which in turn will create better future outcomes (Mooney et.al., 2022).

 

My journey to Understanding Gibbs Reflective Cycle

 As a student i am familiar with the reflective model, Gibbs Reflective Cycle, although there are other models available, such as Kolbs Experimental Learning cycle and Rolfe Reflective Model. Gibbs Reflective Cycle was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 and is a framework of six steps, Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion and Action Plan. These steps support individuals to reflect on experiences, personal growth and a deep understanding of their feelings. Improving future actions and decision making (McLeod 2025).

The description step enables me to objectively explain what happened without using personal opinions or judgement.

The feelings step helps me to acknowledge my emotional responses, positive or negative which will influence how I interpret situations.

The evaluation step pushes me to reflect on what worked well and what did not. This will help me to clearly identify my successes and areas where improvement is needed, supporting my personal and professional growth.

The analysis step allows me to dig deeper and explore below the surface and to think about why things happened the way they did. By connecting this to what I already know or have learned, I can gain a better understanding of the situation.

The conclusion step is where I summarise what I have learned and how I might approach things differently in the future.

 Whilst the action plan encourages me to make better decisions to improve how I handle similar situations in the future (Main 2023).

Overall, the Gibbs Reflective Cycle has helped me become more self-aware and confident in applying lessons from my past experiences to future situations.

 

Gibbs Reflective Cycle

The Gibbs Reflective Cycle aims to guide us and encourage deep, honest and thoughtful reflection, that will lead to improving growth, both personally and professionally (Main 2023). I have shown how I have understood and utilised Gibbs Reflective cycle in the following work, my reflective account.

 

 

My Reflective Account: Mental Health in a Care Home Setting

 I decided to have a career change and secured a position in a residential home. I work with elderly residents with varying ailments, including mental health, dementia and mobility issues. Over time I built a lovely friendship with a resident.

 Sadly, she passed away and it hit me hard as this was my first experience of losing someone in the home. I tried to carry on as normal with my work routine, trying to ignore the anxiety and stress I felt. I was not focusing properly and felt tearful before and after shifts. I did not tell anyone how I was feeling because I thought it would be embarrassing and unprofessional.

I was grateful that my supervisor noticed I was not myself and asked if I was okay. This was a pivotal moment for reflection, when I realised that i had not taken time to deal with the loss and how it had affected me.

 Reflecting on this helped me to understand that it is important for me to take care of my own mental health in an emotionally demanding role. I realise now that I should have spoken to colleagues or used the support systems sooner, rather than keeping my feelings bottled up.

Since then, I am using the support that is available to me. I reflect more and have learnt that asking for help or showing emotion, does not make me weak. I am more aware of how to support myself and others. This experience has helped me to grow and learn and one I will keep for the future.

 

References

Gibbs G., (1988). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic.

Available at, https//www.simply/psychology.org.gibbs.reflective.cycle.html

HCPC (2024), Health and Care Professionals, Reflection and Meeting your Standards.

Available at,

https//www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/meeting-our-standards/reflective-practice/reflection-and-meeting-your-standards.

Main P., (2023), Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Available at, https//www.structurallearning.com/post/gibbs-reflective-cycle.

Mcleod S., (2025) Gibbs Reflective Cycle, Simply Psychology.

Available at, https/www.simplypsychology.org/gibbs-reflective-cycle,html.

Mooney, S., Leonard R, Blair C and Tackett T., (2017).  Enabling Honest Reflection: A Review. (Online) ResearchGate.

Available at,

www.researchgate.net/publication/319956888_enabling_honest_reflection_A_Review  (Accessed 29th June 2025).

Wheatley M,J,. (2010). Without Reflection. A-Z Quotes.

Available at, www.a-zquotes.com/quote/700876 (Accessed 29th June 2025).

 

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