What Keeps Low Self-Esteem Going?
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Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
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Introduction & Theoretical Background
Low self-esteem means not holding yourself in high regard. If you have low self-esteem you might feel shy or anxious around other people, think of yourself as incapable or criticize yourself harshly, by telling yourself things like “You’re stupid”, “You’ll never manage this”, or “You don’t amount to anything”. When you have low self-esteem, you tend to see yourself, the world, and your future more negatively and critically. You might feel anxious, sad, low, or unmotivated. When you encounter challenges, you doubt whether you will be able to rise to them.
Research studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for low self-esteem (Kolubinski et al, 2018). CBT therapists work a bit like firefighters: while the fire is burning they aren’t very interested in what caused it, but are more focused on what is keeping it going. This is because if they can
Therapist Guidance
“One interesting way of thinking about low self-esteem is to look at why, for some people, it does not get better by itself. This handout shows some of the most common reasons why some people’s self-esteem remains low. I wonder if we could look at it together and think about whether it describes what is happening for you?”
References And Further Reading
- Fennell, M. J. (1997). Low self-esteem: A cognitive perspective. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 25(1), 1-26.
- Kolubinski, D. C., Frings, D., Nikčević, A. V., Lawrence, J. A., & Spada, M. M. (2018). A systematic review and meta-analysis of CBT interventions based on the Fennell model of low self-esteem. Psychiatry Research, 267, 296-305.