{"id":156,"date":"2014-12-18T22:31:25","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T22:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aztherapyhelp.cliftonbatchelor.com\/?page_id=156"},"modified":"2019-03-30T17:08:22","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T00:08:22","slug":"self-esteem","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/therapythatworks.net\/self-esteem\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-esteem"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHAT IS IT?
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When you ask psychologists and sociologists what self-esteem means, they use a lot of other words and phrases to describe it. It takes them a very long time to explain it. The term and its meaning has been debated for over a hundred years, starting with the philosopher William James in the late 19th century. The presence or absence of self-esteem has no way of being determined objectively; i.e., no blood test. Regardless, we all want to like ourselves and be liked by others. We want to feel that we can influence what happens when we put effort into something, we want to feel personal worth and value, have an identity that we can be proud of.<\/p>\n

IT’S A CIRCULAR ACHIEVEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

My approach to helping people accomplish the above is based on the belief that we like ourselves best when we become acquainted with our strengths and with our weaknesses, acknowledge and accept them, and then make the effort to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses. Achieving maximum strength and minimum weakness, however, is not required to like ourselves. How would anyone know if they did? When we acknowledge and accept our strengths and limitations, have realistic expectations, and make consistent effort to develop and improve, we like ourselves, and others like us. If we don\u2019t improve enough, we try again. But our expectations have to be realistic. Liking ourselves, and having others like us, is all in the accepting<\/strong>, the trying<\/strong>, and the the doing it again<\/strong>. One self-esteem expert has said, \u201cIf we develop properly, we transfer the source of approval from the world to ourselves; we shift from the external to the internal.\u201d\u00a0 We can certainly make that shift from the external to the internal when we know and accept<\/strong> our strengths and limitations, try<\/strong> to improve ourselves, then do it again<\/strong>. That\u2019s when we discover self-worth, self-confidence, and self-respect. That\u2019s when we like ourselves. It\u2019s about accepting<\/strong>, trying<\/strong>, doing it again<\/strong> – a circular process that does not have an end point.<\/p>\n

SOME SYMPTOMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the symptoms that are typically associated with a lack of self-worth, lack of self-confidence, and lack of self-respect are listed below. This list is not comprehensive, nor is it definitive, but it may give you a sense of whether you are dealing with this issue. Do you identify with any of the symptoms below? Are there other symptoms not listed? Are they keeping you from becoming the person you want to become?<\/p>\n