Self-Esteem
Do you get stuck in self-judgment and criticise yourself harshly? Do you believe that nothing you ever do is good enough? Do you feel worthless, stupid, awkward, weird? Those are all examples of low self-esteem.
Self esteem is how we value ourselves. Healthy self-esteem is when you feel positive and confident in your own abilities and lives, while low self-esteem is when you are more negative and critical of yourself.
Someone with low self-esteem might talk to himself harshly in his mind, such as telling himself “You’re stupid”, “You’ll never manage this”, or “I don’t amount to anything”. You might feel anxious, sad, low, or unmotivated. You may spend a lot of time comparing yourself to others, thinking that you are worthless, never good enough and that others are much better than you, which affects your confidence.
Low self-esteem develops as a result of the experiences we have throughout our life experiences, our childhood, our family, our relationships. Sometimes there are particular people who make us feel inadequate. At the centre of low self-esteem are the beliefs and opinions we hold about ourselves.
People often want a counsellor to help them boost their lack of self esteem and explore with them how to build their confidence.
Counselling can help you find identify the negative thoughts that lead to poor self-belief, understand how they impact on your behaviour and function and take steps to change them.