Self-Esteem

Self-Esteem issues may arise at any point in life and occur in connection with other struggles including depression, anxiety, and life changes. Our self-esteem is affected by many things: physical development, appearance, racism, the quality of our relationships, our successes, and our social and financial status. These issues impact us differently at different ages and stages of life. If we don’t manage our self esteem in health ways more detrimental consequences can ensue including disordered eating, isolation/withdrawal, overspending, substance us, and adopting a false identify.

It is unrealistic to feel great or even good about ourselves in every situation. However, feeling bad about yourself in most situations is keeping you from vital experiences and connections that would likely assist in increasing self-esteem. As a result, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a great starting point for understanding thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that exacerbate self-esteem struggles. Additionally, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy lends itself well to self-esteem issues as it values the notion that there are some things we must accept and other things we can change. Together CBT and DBT set a nice foundation for working on self-esteem issues across the lifespan.