We all like to see ourselves a confident people with high self-esteem and a robust sense of self. In an ideal world, we all have a healthy dose of both which forms our personal balance and helps shape a positive view of ourselves. However, confidence and self-esteem can be hard to resurrect when we experience a setback in life or a disappointment that we might have been unprepared for and its at these times that the engagement with a counselling program can be very useful.
Symptoms of low self-esteem
People experiencing problems with their self-esteem have some difficulties in the following areas:
- Highly self-critical of themselves;
- Downplaying of their strengths and achievements;
- Sees themselves to be inferior to their friends, family or peers;
- Describes themselves using negative words such as stupid, fat, ugly or unlovable;
- Their internal dialogue focuses on a pattern of negative, critical and self-blaming;
- Assumes that luck plays a large role in all their achievements and doesn’t take the credit for them;
- Believes they are un-lovable or unworthy of positive relationships;
- Blames themselves when things go wrong instead of taking into account other things over which they have no control such as the actions of other people or economic forces; and
- Doesn’t believe a person who compliments them and deploys avoidant behaviours to deflect positive attention.
Impact of low self-esteem
The experience of low self-esteem may not be obvious to the person experiencing it and is often better measured by the impact it has on their relationships and the achievement of goals or milestones in their life. The impact of low self-esteem can be measured by:
- Negative feelings;
- Relationship problems;
- Fear of trying;
- Perfectionism;
- Fear of judgement;
- Low resilience;
- Lack of self-care; and
- Self-harming behaviours.
Self-esteem counselling with Louise Spencer
Louise Spencer specialises in working with clients who experience problems with their self-esteem and confidence. Your initial appointment with Louise will involve an assessment of your understanding of the issues that are impacting on your self-esteem and confidence.
Together, you will embark on a therapeutic program to assist you in developing a new set of skills to create an improved self-esteem and confidence that will allow you to achieve your personal and professional goals.