5 Steps To Take To Improve Your Self-Esteem by your therapist in Sugar Land

Low-self esteem can affect every part of your life including your work, relationships, physical and mental health. Many clients I see come to me feeling like they’re stuck and constantly battling to feel confident and happy.

However, with therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, we can boost your self-esteem.

Here are 5 steps to take to improve your self-esteem by your therapist in Sugar Land…

1. Identify triggers. Think about conditions or times when your self-esteem seems to decrease. Triggers could be in situations like a crisis at work or home, having to present a project or be in front of a large group in public, being in a challenge with a spouse, friend, or loved one, or experiencing a change in roles or life circumstances. Therapy can help you identify these as well.

2. Pay attention to your thoughts. Pay attention to the way you think about a situation and ask yourself if your view is accurate with facts and logic or whether you’re experiencing inaccuracies and negative feelings. There are several patterns of thinking that can cause low self-esteem including…

   • All-or-nothing thinking: when you see things as all good or all bad and there’s no in-between

   • Mental filtering: dwelling on the negatives and distorting your views of a person or situation

   • Creating negative experiences from positive ones: rejecting your achievements and making excuses for good things that happen to you.

   • Jumping to negative conclusions

   • Negative self-talk: when you undervalue or put yourself down

3. Replace negative thoughts with positivity. Once you are aware of your negative patterns of thinking, adjust your thoughts and beliefs to focus on the positive. In therapy, I will be able to help you forgive and encourage yourself. It’s important to consider what you’ve learned from negative experiences but to avoid “should have” thinking. When negative thoughts arise, it’s okay! Try to use them as signals to try new, healthy thinking patterns.

4. Exercise. There are many studies that link exercise to high self-esteem and improved mental health. Exercising just 30 minutes a day can increase your physical and mental health. Organize your day around other self-care habits that are important such as doing something relaxing or fun and getting sufficient sleep. These all have positive effects on your self-esteem throughout the day.

5. Forgive yourself and others. Is there someone in your life that has hurt you or that you haven’t forgiven? When you hold on to feelings of resentment or bitterness it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of negativity. This includes when you haven’t forgiven yourself as well! Being able to forgive has been linked to higher self-esteem.

Waking up each day feeling overwhelmed and sad is no way to live. You deserve to feel confident, happy, and strong again. 

Call me today if you are ready to free yourself from your mental health burden and increase your self-esteem through therapy and a personalized treatment plan.