How is psychotherapy for self-esteem problems?

Low self-esteem can affect a person in many areas at a psychological level, which is why it is essential to work on it.

There are different ways to approach this problem in the psychologist's office. In this article we are going to review some of the most common proposals to try to improve the level of self-esteem of a person in psychotherapy and thereby achieve a higher level of well-being in all facets of your life.

• Related article: "Do you really know what self-esteem is?"

How is psychological therapy to overcome self-esteem problems?

In order to know what psychotherapy for self-esteem problems is like, we must first make an approach to the concept of self-esteem itself. It is a complex element to define. An approximation could be the totality of thoughts, emotions and evaluations that a person makes about himself.

In this self-evaluation, all spheres of the person themselves are taken into account, both the way of being and the physical form, the capacities, etc. Definitely, self-esteem would represent the desire of an individual to feel the appreciation of others and of himself

. This is a transcendental need in people, so much so that even in Maslow's pyramid it appears on the fourth level, only below self-realization.

If we want to know what psychotherapy is like for self-esteem problems, it is necessary that we delve a little more about this phenomenon. Another author who highlights the importance of self-esteem is the humanistic psychologist, Carl Rogers. For Rogers, the fact that many people do not give themselves the value they deserve, is the beginning of many of the psychological changes.

Faced with this statement, the very school of humanistic psychology proposes a maxim to be followed at all times, and that is that any individual, only for the reason of being a being human, he deserves the maximum respect, not only from other people, but also from himself, or what is the same, deserves to have the esteem of others and his own self-esteem.

We get an idea of ​​the immense importance of self-appreciation, and hence the interest aroused by the question of what psychotherapy is like for children. self-esteem problems, as this may be the way to alleviate and even prevent various psychopathologies that can affect people with a low level of self-esteem.

Psychological intervention strategies to learn to love yourself

After verifying the level of relevance that self-esteem can have in people's lives, it is now time to study the ways to repair or enhance it. Therefore, we are now going to delve into the different answers to what psychotherapy is like for self-esteem problems.

To do this, we will explore some of the ways to approach this situation from a consultation of psychology, although it is necessary to remember that these are not the only ways to do it, since there are many more.

1. Explore the origin

When we ask ourselves what psychotherapy for self-esteem problems is like, one of the first answers that arise is to look for the reason for these problems, or what is the same, to explore the source. Generally, a low self-esteem does not come from a single fact, but from a set of experiences and characteristics of the person himself that have progressively favored this situation.

The fact of being able to explore and find traumatic experiences that have helped to make self-esteem increasingly low in the person, they can allow the therapist to work on these events through repair therapies, such as EMDR, through of bilateral stimulation, so that the patient can reprocess these traumatic situations with resources that at the time did not He had.

• You may be interested in: "Self-concept: what is it and how is it formed?"

2. Work on limiting beliefs

In addition to acting on past events, another of the strategies that are adapted to the question of how is the psychotherapy for self-esteem problems, is the one that has to do with the work on the limiting beliefs of person. A limiting belief is any thought that may make it difficult for an individual to develop or achieve certain goals.

Therefore, this question is directly related to self-esteem. The reasoning is as follows. If the person suffers from low self-love, it is precisely because he believes that it is not valid, that does not have remarkable abilities in anything, that does not deserve the respect or appreciation of the the rest. Therefore, it will be difficult to get out of that loop if these beliefs are not stopped.

To do this work, you can resort to cognitive restructuring. The ultimate goal will be be able to replace these limiting beliefs or cognitive distortions with other beliefs that are positive about oneself and therefore suppose an impulse towards a high self-esteem, that in the long run will have repercussions on the own well-being of the individual.

For that reason, when thinking about what psychotherapy is like for self-esteem problems, the work on one's own thoughts negative is key if we want to achieve a significant and sustained change over time in the patient's perception of himself same.

3. Improve social skills

On many occasions, self-esteem problems can be reinforced by a deficit in the area of ​​social skills. By not having the proper tools, a person may have trouble interacting with normality with other individuals, which will generate anxiety and increase those negative beliefs about which we talked.

Not only that, but it can be created a vicious circle in which he does not want to interact with others and therefore never has the opportunity to have that appreciation of others that means an improvement in your self-esteem For this reason, another answer to what psychotherapy is like for self-esteem problems is neither more nor less than training in social skills.

The fact of learning to relate to other people in an appropriate way can give the patient the confidence he needs to fight against this negative perception of himself and therefore it will be a useful form of work to get your self-esteem to be higher and higher.

We are verifying that, although we are proposing different ways of dealing with the question of what psychotherapy is like for self-esteem problems, in reality on many occasions it is requires extensive work that resolves the different points that we are listing, because in this way the effect is amplified and the therapist is more efficient in its task.

• You may be interested in: "Top 14 Social Skills for Success in Life"

4. Behavioral stimulation

It is not only about working on beliefs, it is also necessary to do the same on behaviors. That is why another alternative to how psychotherapy is for self-esteem problems is that of behavioral stimulation. What does it consist of? In proposing to the patient a series of activities that are pleasant to him and with which he becomes involved.

The objective of this task is to give him the opportunity that he can get to know himself better, discovering skills he thought he didn't have and even seeing how they are strengthened and he manages to acquire a reasonably good skill in a hobby that is of interest to him.

This technique has a direct impact on self-esteem, since it is more likely that the person has a more favorable image of themselves by being aware of their capabilities and his progress, which will have repercussions, as we have already seen, in other different areas and, together with the rest of the techniques used, will help the person to improve in their state of cheer up.

5. Enhance strengths

We have already seen that it is important to know negative beliefs in order to work on them. But just as important it will be know the most positive points of self-concept, precisely to be able to reinforce them and use them as a means to achieve an improvement in self-esteem.

If the person does not have a good image of himself in general terms, but there are certain points in particular, either some special ability or traits that seem remarkable and positive, it will be essential for the therapist to take them into account to lean on them, to try to replicate this positive perception in other areas.

This, therefore, will be another of the strategies that we can use when faced with the task of what psychotherapy is like for self-esteem problems. As we said before, these are just some of the possibilities, being able to use different ones when the psychology professional deems it appropriate.

Bibliographic references:

• Fennell, M.J.V. (1998). Cognitive therapy in the treatment of low self-esteem. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment.
• Shapiro, F. (2010). EMDR: Desensitization and reprocessing through eye movement. Pax Mexico.
• Taylor, T.L., Montgomery, P. (2007). Can cognitive-behavioral therapy increase self-esteem among depressed adolescents? A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review. Elsevier.