What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem means your deeply felt sense of self-worth. In simple terms, it is a measure of how much you like yourself and how worthy you feel to be a full participant in your own life. Many challenges people struggle with are related to poor self-esteem. They don’t tend to get better without addressing that root cause, which may not even be obvious to the individual.
What determines my self-esteem?
Many factors contribute to your self-esteem, including:
- Your personality type
- Your life experiences
- Early life experiences
- Family patterns around child rearing and gender roles
- Strength of your relationship with a mature and emotionally healthy caregiver as a child
- The values of the culture you grew up in and live in
- Grief, loss, and trauma in your family or community during your early years
- Your health
- Your age
- Your sense of belonging within your family or other group
- Your social circumstances
- Your sense of physical and economic security
- Interpersonal relationships, including relationship conflict
Things can change as you move through life, and that can affect your self-esteem.
When do I need help for low self-esteem?
If you think you might want some support for low self-esteem, that’s probably the best indicator that you can benefit.
While every person's situation and experiences are unique, common signs that you might need help for low self-esteem include:
- Rarely feeling confident
- Blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong
- Frequently struggling with depression or anxiety
- Constantly questioning your own judgment
- Disregarding your own opinions or valuing opinions of others more
- Constantly comparing yourself to others
- Feeling that your weaknesses far outweigh your strengths
- Never saying no to others, even when you should
- Tumultuous relationships
- Difficulty setting boundaries
- Difficulty accepting compliments
- Difficulty asking for help
- Difficulty expressing your own preferences or wishes
Low self-esteem may look different for every person, but in general, it's time to consider therapy if you constantly struggle with any of these issues.
What does therapy for low self-esteem involve?
At the Midwest Center for Transformational Change PLC, Anne uses robust, evidence-based models that are proven to be effective in people with low self-esteem: Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy (Satir Model), Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR®) therapy.
This powerful combination of therapies can help you to reconnect with the life force within you, developing a healthy and natural confidence.
Learn more about how these innovative treatment models can help you by clicking the provided link to schedule your free consultation.
Midwest Center for Transformational Change PLC
