Counselling Services for Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is your self-regard and self-respect. It’s your confidence, your feeling of worth and value, and the pride and satisfaction you feel about yourself.

As human beings we are hard-wired for connection and belonging. We need to feel valued and worthy. It is essential for our very survival.

But when we feel out of connection, we feel at risk.

So it’s no surprise that building positive self-esteem plays an important role in our quest to achieve positive mental health.

Our self-esteem can drop when we struggle with other mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression.

Are your needs being met?

However, research has shown that it is difficult to work on issues of self-esteem when we are preoccupied with other issues.

For example, before we can improve our self-worth, we need to meet more basic needs, such those of hunger and housing.

Beyond those basic needs, we also need to meet our need for safety. This refers to our physical safety (being free from violence, injury or threats) but also our psychological and emotional safety.

In other words, only once we have a handle on our immediate psychological and emotional needs can we focus on improving our self-esteem, value, and sense of worthiness.

Mental health challenges can create, fuel, and exaggerate self-esteem issues. When our self-esteem drops, we may present with a variety of different symptoms.

Some of the ways low self-esteem may manifest:

• Depression
  
• Anxiety or social anxiety
• Body image disorder
• Withdrawal or isolation
• Indecisiveness
• Increased sensitivity to criticism
• Avoidance and self-doubt
• Self-neglect or abuse
• Relationship difficulties
• Addiction

With work, it is possible for you to see yourself in a more holistic way: as a human being with flaws, who deserves the same value and worthiness of others.

Tanglewood provides a safe space where you can put your psychological guard down. In this non-judgement environment, together we can explore the vulnerability of low self-esteem.

During our time together in counselling, I will employ a variety of different techniques to help you build self-esteem and understand your inherent worth.

The exact approach I take with you is based on your personality, needs, and life experiences.

Some of the different ways we may approach your sessions:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – CBT exercises explore the roots of negative beliefs and looks for evidence to prove or disprove them.
• Narrative Therapy – These exercises are aimed at externalizing problems in order to show that they are separate from the people we are.
• Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing – EMDR works through distressing memories that negatively affect our self-esteem.
• Self-Compassion Therapy – These exercises teach us to nurture ourselves, just as we would others.
• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy – DBT helps us to increase our tolerance for distressing thoughts.
• Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy – REBT focuses on our faulty interpretation of the events we are involved in.
• Mindfulness – Exercises to help us notice our negative thoughts of self, while letting them pass without internalizing them.
• Acceptance & Commitment Therapy – ACT exercises highlight the usefulness of messages that contribute to low self-esteem. It teaches how they are telling us what is important to us, and that we can use them for growth if we don’t internalize them.

Do any of these techniques resonate with you? Together we can develop a plan and get to work on building your self-esteem. Book a free phone call to get started.