How To Psychologically Help A Person With Low Self-esteem

How to psychologically help a person with low self-esteem

Living with a person with low self-esteem can lead us to wonder what we can do so that someone we love stops having such negative thoughts about themselves and stops feeling so insecure, sad and vulnerable in the different areas of their life. Low self-esteem is something that can affect a person’s personal, social and work life, since this negative and distorted self-concept can lead to problems relating to others, having a partner, growing professionally, etc. and even lead to a state of deep sadness and depression due to frustration and constant self-punishment.

If you wonder how to psychologically help a person with low self-esteem and you don’t know where to start, pay attention to this PsychologyFor article in which we give you all the keys you need to achieve it successfully.

Characteristics of people with low self-esteem

The people with low self-esteem They have a distorted self-concept of what they really are and what they can do or achieve. They are people who are insecure about themselves and do not make decisions for fear of making mistakes or because others do not agree with them, since they give exaggerated importance to the opinion that other people have of them.

In addition to this, they have a negative view of their personality or physique and highlight all their defects while minimizing their virtues. Among the emotions and feelings that usually emerge in these people, we find shyness, insecurity, inferiority complex, guilt, frustration and fear. Below we show some of the most common characteristics of people with low self-esteem that can help us identify if someone in our immediate environment has a poor level of self-esteem:

  • They value themselves in a negative and distorted way and have a very negative view about their abilities, personality or physical image.
  • They are insecure about themselves.
  • They feel unloved.
  • They are afraid of changes.
  • They tend to compare themselves with others and believe that other people are better or do things better.
  • They feel guilty about everything.
  • Perfectionists and with a high degree of self-demand.
  • Indecisive and afraid of making mistakes.
  • Passive people who avoid taking the initiative.
  • Isolated and shy people.
  • Dependent on other people.
  • Pessimists, they believe that everything is going to go wrong for them.
  • Sensitive to criticism.
  • They need constant approval from others.
  • They compare themselves to others and continually analyze their thoughts, behaviors or comments.
  • They give up easily.
  • Difficulty clearly expressing your thoughts, feelings or opinions.

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How to psychologically help a person with low self-esteem - Characteristics of people with low self-esteem

How to help a person with low self-esteem

If you have someone in your immediate environment with a problem of low self-esteem and you want to help them modify these thoughts about themselves, pay attention to the tips which we detail below. However, it is important that you first take into account that help someone love themselves It is not a simple thing, since eliminating or modifying old thoughts and, especially, those related to oneself is not a simple process. It requires time and learning. Self-esteem is loving and respecting oneself and although this also depends to a large extent on the person’s social environment, the most important thing is that the image and appreciation that one has of oneself is built and rebuilt internally.

  1. Give him your support and love but help him see the importance of loving yourself Low self-esteem entails a constant search for approval and, for this reason, your praise and affection can help him a lot, but it is also essential that you try to show him that he should focus more on himself and not always be aware of what others think or think about her.
  2. Help him detect his virtues and achievements: This is key to psychologically helping a person with low self-esteem. She will tend to think that she only has flaws and be very pessimistic, interpreting that everything goes wrong for her, and the fact that you tell her what her virtues, her achievements and the positive qualities of her personality are, will help her identify them and, therefore, , to raise your self-esteem.
  3. Be understanding: It is important that when you talk to her, you keep in mind that a person with poor self-esteem is usually more sensitive and vulnerable to criticism or any type of disapproval. Therefore, he tries to be careful, not to continually point out what he does wrong or belittle any opinion he gives or the plans he proposes. On the contrary, encourage him to give his opinion when you are in a conversation, encourage him to grow personally, socially and professionally and ask him to express what he wants to do.
  4. Causal attribution process: To prevent that person from thinking that all the negative experiences that happen to them are solely their fault, you can ask them a series of questions about the last negative events they have experienced so that, in this way, they begin to see that most of the time things They happen for various reasons and do not only depend on it.
  5. Avoid comparisons: To help you raise your self-esteem, it is also essential that you do not compare yourself with others. The best option is to help you grow personally and achieve your goals by emphasizing your abilities and positive aspects. If you continually compare him with other people around him, you will only make him frustrated and his self-esteem will be damaged even more.
  6. Help him defend himself and make himself respected: People with low self-esteem tend to “belittle themselves” in front of others and, on many occasions, find it difficult to say what they think, face conflicts and be respected. It is important that you convey to him that he is not less than others, that his criteria are as valid as any other and that he has to defend himself when he considers it necessary.
  7. Spend quality time with her: In addition to helping him with words, it is also important that you show him your support with actions and that you spend time together doing those activities that you like the most or have fun with.

You can see other useful tips by consulting the article Self-esteem and improvement: techniques for improvement.

How to psychologically help a person with low self-esteem - How to help a person with low self-esteem

Encourage him to consult with a professional psychologist if…

There are cases in which the person has excessively low self-esteem and this affects them very negatively in their personal, social and work life, limiting them on many levels. This is when it is important that we make him see that he has a self-esteem problem that he should try to solve by putting himself in the hands of a professional psychologist that provides you with the appropriate therapeutic process to increase your self-esteem and improve your emotional well-being. It will always be a good idea to talk to her and tell her that he has a problem that he should work on gently and tactfully.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to psychologically help a person with low self-esteem we recommend that you enter our Personal Growth and Self-Help category.

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