Self Confidence & Self Esteem Therapy

To best understand what type of therapy will help people build their self-confidence, it is important to understand what is getting in their way in the first place.

If it is issues from their past (such as intense bullying, or childhood issues, etc.), then a therapy that addresses these past events and the impact it is still having on clients will be helpful.

If the issues are because of a lack of experiences that build confidence (like, staying too much in one’s comfort zone and not pushing yourself to grow), then a therapy that progressively encourages clients to go outside of their current confidence level to expand it would be helpful.

There are many approaches to be able to accomplish this, including Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Trauma-Focused Therapies, and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. 

If the issues of low self-esteem are pervasive and deep, then the client may met the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder. In that case, then a therapist should treat the lack of self-esteem as one part of their depression and would help the client address these issues comprehensively. 

If the low self-esteem is because of an event or a series of events in the clients’ past (for example, they were cheated on and now lack confidence in their romantic life), then a therapist will work with clients to address, process, and release the grip that event has on them today.

Whatever the reasons may be, self-esteem has to be developed simultaneously with having new and novel experiences. In the example earlier, if someone lacks dating confidence, they are not going to become confident then be ready to date. Instead, they are going to build confidence when engaging in relationships again, but with a little support and encouragement.

Therapists cannot give people confidence, but they can help clients identify and overcome the reasons why they lack belief in themselves. 

Self-confidence struggles are not, themselves, a mental health disorder or mental illness. Only a few mental health disorders are characterized by possibly having self-confidence issues. Those diagnoses also have many more characteristics than simply self-esteem issues.  

While people with mental health issues can have struggles with self-confidence, self-confidence is not, itself, a mental health issue.

There is no one root cause of low self-esteem. People can have low self-esteem for a variety of reasons. Most of the reasons are within their control, and some may not be (such as inherited depression, or permanent effects of severe mental manipulation). To address self-esteem, it is imperative that one identifies the reason or reasons that lead to their specific self-esteem problems and address those in an individualized and comprehensive manner.