Confidence through Counseling: 3 Tips to Growing in Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
It’s so common to hear the term “fake it ‘til you make it” or “just be yourself,” but what does that actually mean? Finding confidence is much easier said than done, and it can look different for different people. There have been many studies on the way that anxiety and stress play a role in overall confidence or self-esteem and how working with a counselor can help you to grow in loving yourself more. At the end of the day, true confidence comes from having an honest and open relationship with yourself. Here is a list of what professional counseling services can do to help improve your self-esteem:
1. Growing in Awareness:
Self-awareness can be hard to achieve without some help. Counseling allows you to see yourself with greater perspective, but also with grace. The more you learn about yourself and how you operate, the better you can understand who you are. According to an article from Counseling Today, self-awareness does not equal self-esteem. The work continues on and on, but laying a foundation for self-discovery can help you learn more about your strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to play to your strengths, resulting in more confidence in the things you do in life.
2. A Nudge Toward Branching Out:
Working with a counselor opens you up to opportunities you may not have thought were possible before. Taking small steps outside of your comfort zone help you to see what you are capable of, which results in the growth of your self-esteem. Counseling Today also quotes experts saying that stagnation can be an indicator of low self-esteem. A lack of growth can look like staying at the same job that doesn’t serve you, or it can even look like hopping from job to job without actually improving yourself. With the help of a counselor, you can begin to gauge what parts of your life feel lacking, and find a way to push yourself into something new and exciting.
Document Your Successes:
Counselors have the unique ability to see you in a way that you cannot see yourself. Talking with your counselor can help you to see the small successes that you make each and every day, and give you outsider perspectives on your growth. In an article from CNBC, psychotherapist Jenny Maenpaa talks about her three tips for leading a confident lifestyle. She references having a “look at the evidence,” meaning when self-doubt begins to creep in, take a look at the success and the progress you have made. Your counselor is someone who knows you deeply, and can help to shed light on the evidence of your growth and your big and small wins.
Self-confidence and self-esteem are technically two different things, one being external and the other being internal, but both require working on yourself to get to a place where you can be open and accepting of the things that make you unique. Working with a counselor at Sage Family Counseling can help you work through anxiety, depression, stress, and a number of other things that could be holding you back from living the most fulfilling life possible. Schedule your first visit with one of our counselors today!
