How to help psychologically a person with low self-esteem

Living with a person with low self-esteem can lead us to wonder what we can do to make someone we love stop have such negative thoughts about yourself and stop feeling so insecure, sad and vulnerable in the different areas of your life lifetime. Low self-esteem is something that can affect both the personal, social and work life of the person, since that negative and distorted self-concept of oneself can lead to problems to interact with others, have a partner, grow professionally, etc., and even lead to a state of deep sadness and depression due to frustration and self-punishment constant. If you wonder how to help psychologically a person with low self-esteem And you don't know where to start, pay attention to this Psychology-Online article in which we give you all the keys you need to achieve it successfully.

Index

1. Characteristics of people with low self-esteem
2. How to help a person with low self-esteem - the best tips
3. Encourage him to see a professional psychologist if ...

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 insecure of themselves who do not make decisions for fear of being wrong or because others are not agree with them, since they give an exaggerated importance to the opinion that other people have of her. 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 surface in these people, we find shyness, insecurity, the inferiority complex, guilt, frustration and fear.

Here are some of the characteristics of people with low self-esteem most common that can help us identify if someone in our immediate environment has a poor level of self-esteem:

• They are valued in a negative and distorted way and have a very negative view about their abilities, personality or physical image.
• They are insecure of themselves.
• They feel unloved.
• Have fear of changes.
• They tend to compare themselves to 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 being wrong.
• Passive people who avoid taking the initiative.
• Isolated and shy people.
• Dependents of other people.
• Pessimists, they believe that everything is going to go wrong.
• Sensitive to criticism.
• They need the constant approval of others.
• They compare themselves to others and continually analyze their thoughts, behaviors, or comments.
• They give up easily.
• Difficulty expressing your thoughts, feelings, or opinions clearly.

You can expand this information by consulting the article Characteristics of people with low self-esteem.

If you have someone in your immediate environment with a low self-esteem problem and you want to help them modify these thoughts about themselves, pay attention to the advice which we detail below. However, it is important that you previously bear in mind that help someone to love themselves It is not an easy thing, since eliminating or modifying old thoughts and, especially, those related to oneself is not a simple process. It takes time and learning. Self-esteem is loving and respecting oneself and although it depends to a great extent, it also depends on the social environment of the person, the most important thing is that the image and the value that one has of oneself is built and rebuilt internally.

1. Offer your support and affection, but help him see the importance of loving yourself. Low self-esteem leads to constant approval seeking and, for this reason, your praise and affection can help a lot, but also It is 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 to detect his strengths and achievements: This is key to psychologically helping a person with low self-esteem. She will tend to think that she only has defects and to be very pessimistic interpreting that everything goes wrong, and the fact that you tell her what are your virtues, your achievements and the positive qualities of your personality, it will help you to 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, try to be careful not to continually point out what you are doing wrong or belittle any opinions you give or the plans you propose. 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 recent negative events that you have experienced so that, in this way, you begin to see that most of the time things happen for several causes and that not only depend her.
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 strengths and strengths. If you continually compare him with other people around him, you will only get him frustrated and his self-esteem even more damaged.
6. Help him defend himself and make himself respected: people with low self-esteem tend to "belittle" in front of others and, on many occasions, find it difficult to say what they think, face conflicts and make themselves 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 deems it necessary.
7. Spend quality time with her: In addition to helping him with words, it is also important that you show your support with actions and that you spend time together doing those activities that you like or amuse the most.

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

There are cases in which the person has an excessively low self-esteem and this affects him very negatively in his personal, social and work life, limiting it to 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 to provide you with the appropriate therapeutic process to increase your self-esteem and improve your emotional well-being. It is always 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, in Psychology-Online 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.

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