Increasing Self-Esteem

When your self-esteem is low, you can be your own harshest critic.

In its strongest manifestation it can cause you to lack the belief that you can be in control of your life or of your reactions to situations or even of your physical responses to them. You may feel unworthy and incompetent, blind to your good points, haunted by past mistakes and the possibility of making future ones. You find it hard to handle criticism & you’re reluctant to ask for what you want from others.

Low self-esteem can take a toll on the quality of your life. Judging and rejecting yourself can be so painful that you avoid anything that might aggravate that pain. You may take fewer social, academic, or career risks & find it more difficult to meet people, go for a job interview, or strive for success in the face of possible failure.

There are two primary sources for low self-esteem:

• The way you were brought up until the age of about seven
• Your own thoughts and images since then

There’s nothing you can do that will give you different parents and change the way you were reared, but you can do a lot about your current thoughts and images keeping you locked into low self-esteem.

Hypnotherapy, counselling and psychotherapy can help you overcome this negative self talk by improving your self-image and reframing your negative thoughts, allowing you to reprogram your beliefs and goals in a more productive & useful way, increasing your feelings of self worth and giving you control of your life.

You will no longer rely on others' approval in order to feel good about yourself. Learning to accept yourself and recognising that no-one needs to be perfect in order to be valued is a positive step towards increasing your self esteem.

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Updated 07/05/10