All About Low Self Esteem and How to Improve it with Psychological Therapy & Counselling

What is Low Self Esteem?

Low Self Esteem is what you experience when you rate yourself as a bit ‘useless’ or have a low opinion of your abilities in general.

Self esteem is the term used to describe how we think about and value ourselves.

When our esteem is healthy, we tend to feel good about ourselves and have a positive outlook on life in general.

A high self-esteem gives us the courage and strength to deal with the ups and downs in life – without them having a long-term impact on our health and well-being.

However, when we have low self confidence, our thoughts and feelings about ourselves are generally negative.

We are more likely to focus on our weaknesses and be overly critical of the things we do and mistakes we’ve made.

We are also less able to cope with everyday challenges.

Signs & Symptoms of Low Self Esteem

Low self esteem can affect you in many different ways.

There are however common signs to look out for.

If you feel inadequate or unworthy, your behaviour is likely to reflect this.

Common indicators of low self esteem include:

• Feeling hopeless or depressed.
• Feeling bored with life.
• Having no motivation.
• Lack of assertiveness.
• Being overly sensitive to criticism.
• Believing there’s nothing to look forward to.
• Thinking negatively about yourself.
• Feeling tired a lot of the time.
• Feeling like a failure.

You may have one or all of these symptoms, but the good news is that self confidence problems respond well to talking therapies such as CBT.

Causes of Low Self Esteem

It is generally believed that the way we value ourselves stems from experiences in early childhood.

Our history and relationships with those around us – including our parents, friends and siblings – shape the opinion we have ourselves.

We receive a combination of positive and negative messages as we grow up, but for some people it tends to be the negative ones that stick.

Feelings of not being good enough can continue into adulthood.

Some of us may possess personality traits that make us more susceptible to negative thought patterns about who we are and of our capabilities.

Traumatic life events such as abuse or serious illness can also cause self-esteem to plummet.

Being forced into a physical or emotional position against your will can make it very hard to trust yourself or others.

Self Esteem Test

If you’d like to measure your current level of self-esteem you can do so using our Self Esteem Test here.

Therapy & Counselling for Low Self Esteem

We offer a number of different types of therapy and counselling for Self Esteem and confidence-related problems.

Choosing the most suitable therapy depends on a number of different considerations including factors such as:

• How long you have had the problem.
• Your personal preferences.
• How your problem is affecting you today.

You can read more about the different types of therapy for self esteem on the following links:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Low Self Esteem
• Counselling for Confidence Problems
• Pluralistic Therapy for Low Self Esteem

Although all therapies use slightly different approaches, the one thing they all have in common is the relationship that is formed between the client and therapist.

Research suggests that this therapy relationship may be the most important factor in achieving a good therapy outcome.

The Behaviour Change Framework

All of our counselling sessions and programmes for low self esteem use the Behaviour Change Framework (BCF).

This scientifically proven protocol defines the stages of behaviour change that you need to go through in order to achieve long lasting and sustainable change.

The framework provides a roadmap that indicates if more change is required before entering the next phase of mental health therapy.

In this way, we are able to ensure that you get the best possible level of support in overcoming your mental health problems as well preventing early termination of therapy.

You can read more about the Science of Change here.

Arrange your FREE initial consultation here.

If you’d like to find out more about overcoming low self esteem or recovering from any of your mental health problems then why not arrange a free initial consultation with us.

During this consultation we will discuss your particular issues and the different types of mental health counselling we offer without you having to commit to any counselling going forward.

The consultation lasts around 50 minutes and is a great opportunity to meet with either Paul or Joan and decide if you would like to proceed with any support.