PORTRAITS Roger has been working two jobs for years just to make ends meet. Unfortunately, he recently lost the higher paying of his jobs. As if that weren’t enough, his son was also just suspended from school for drug possession. Roger feels that he has failed as a father and blames himself for not being home enough with his son. Amanda longs to have a husband and a family of her own. Now that most of her friends are married, she has been thinking a lot about her ex-boyfriend of five years. She blames herself for their breakup and thinks about how things could have been different if she had only been a better girlfriend. She has been spending most nights at home alone and her friends are beginning to worry. DEFINITIONS & KEY THOUGHTS Discouragement involves a lack of confidence or feeling of sadness that is the result of either a real or perceived event in life. Two of the main underlying causes that contribute to discouragement include lack of confidence in oneself and … [Read more...]
Self-Esteem Counseling: Information for Improving Self-Esteem and Overcoming Low Self-Esteem
PORTRAITS Samantha often finds herself pressured to succumb to the sexual advances of men in fear that she will be rejected if she does not. As a result, she has earned a reputation of promiscuity with which she is extremely frustrated and hurt by. Alice is convinced that her marriage has no hope. However, aside from her husband and children she feels that she has no purpose in life. Her children do not respect her and her husband often tells her that without him she has nothing. Jerry has lived in the shadow of his older brother for his entire life. At the age of 18, he is applying for colleges and sees the entire process as an opportunity to win the attention of his parents. He isn’t sure if he would even like to attend college yet and is terrified of failing or being rejected. DEFINITIONS & KEY THOUGHTS Self-esteem is a person’s inner sense of worth that enables them to have the resilience and resistance to personal attacks or criticism. Generally, each person has a … [Read more...]