Self Esteem Therapy – Erica Weber, LCSW – Westfield, NJ

Do You Believe In Yourself?

When you look in the mirror, do you feel content and identify with the person looking back at you? Is this the person that you aspire to be? Do you believe that you deserve positive things in life and to be respected and treated well by others? Do you feel proud and accomplished in life?

If you have not been answering yes to these questions, you may be suffering with low-esteem. Throughout each day, you may find yourself sacrificing your own well-being in order to please others. In your personal and professional life, you may often agree to do things that you would really prefer to say no to, especially when those things come at a negative personal expense to you. For example, you may take on extra time-consuming project at work or agree to complete tasks during your free time.

Having A Low Self Esteem Is Common

Most people will struggle with low self-esteem during certain points of their life. This state of mind often follows difficult and upsetting times, such as the end of a relationship/divorce, job loss or a trauma. It is also possible for individuals to struggle with varying degrees of low self-esteem for long periods of time.

You may wonder: “What is self-esteem?” or “Is it possible to change?” The true meaning of self-esteem is to hold value and respect for oneself and to feel satisfied and content in one’s abilities. The good news is that no matter how long an individual has lived with a low sense of self-worth, he or she always has the capacity to change. By engaging in therapy with an empathic and authentic therapist, it is possible to build up your self-esteem to the positive place that you deserve.

Embrace Who You Are With Self Esteem Therapy

During safe, compassionate and thoughtful self-esteem counseling sessions, you and I will work together to develop an individualized plan to help you take the necessary steps toward a joyful, fulfilling and confident future.

Self-talk plays a large role in one’s self-esteem. People often do not realize how frequently we send critical messages to ourselves throughout each day. For example, you may think, “I can’t believe I did that, I’m so stupid!” or “Why can’t I ever do anything right?” Negative self-talk is often extremely prevalent and consistent, even if you do not realize it.

Together, you and I will work on increasing your awareness of your negative self-talk and retrain your mind to incorporate more positive messages. This is like retraining a muscle that has been practicing the same unhealthy exercise for many years.

Through our therapy sessions and with practice, you can start to pay close attention to your needs and learn how to confidently navigate your life with a positive self-image. The more kind that you become to yourself, the more value you will hold for yourself. As this occurs, you should begin to feel more empowered and understand that you deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully. You may then begin to seek out more rewarding experiences and relationships in life.

You may be interested in self-esteem therapy, but you still have questions and concerns...

Nobody in my life has ever seemed to believe in me much, so why should I believe in myself?

Unfortunately, when one has been surrounded by such negativity in his or her life, it is often inevitable to have it negatively affect one’s sense of self-esteem, worth and value. Thankfully, it is still very possible to work toward believing in yourself and achieving the life that you hope to achieve.

Therapy can assist in breaking down the barriers that you have set for yourself or that others appear to have determined for us. For instance, when you hear negative or degrading messages often enough, it’s common to start to believe them. Our confidential and authentic therapy sessions offer you a safe space to challenge and break down such messages, rebuilding a renowned outlook on life and sense of yourself.

I’m not really sure if I am suffering from low self-esteem or from anxiety and depression.

Anxiety and depression often go hand-in-hand with low self-esteem as a negative sense of self directly affects our quality of life. Thankfully, all three of these areas can be treated simultaneously or separately in treatment sessions. Even working on one of these areas in therapy will often positively affect the others. For example, by increasing your self-esteem, you would likely improve your sense of hopefulness and outlook on life, helping to decrease many of the painful symptoms of depression.

How could my constantly saying “yes” and people-pleasing, foster my negative self-esteem?

As you build your self-esteem during treatment, you’ll have the opportunity to explore the reasons behind your patterns of saying “yes,” even when inside your mind you may be strongly feeling the desire to say “no.”

It is possible to be scared that others may not like us or find it useful to keep us in their lives if we cannot constantly provide them with that they need. Perhaps you do not feel confident enough to be assertive and put your own needs first. Or maybe, you simply believe that your own needs and self-preservation are just not worth as much as they actually are. By constantly ignoring your own needs and catering to those of others, this enforces the message that you are less important than others are (which is certainly not the case!). Prioritizing your own self-care is an important step in building self-esteem and maintaining a rewarding life.

Find Strength And Positivity Within Yourself

If you are ready to feel more confident about yourself and your needs, please contact me. I’m happy to answer your questions and discuss how therapy can help you.