If you have seriously low self esteem, which type of therapy do you think is best?

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Since I can always remember I've always felt that my mental health hasn't been good. Nothing major but feeling low/ negative etc. I have very low self confidence and am really really shy and quiet. Not surprisingly my self esteem is pretty much non existent. I don't like myself at all and hate that I'm shy.

I really want to sort myself out and stop hiding and actually live my life instead of just existing through it.

I've tried CBT and hypnotherapy but think maybe they're not the best therapies to deal with my chronic low self esteem and low self confidence.

Bump!

Schema-Focused Cognitive Therapy would probably really help. A long, hard road but worth it

Hi I’m Sorry that no one else has replied yet. I’m sure they will 🌸 I was just wondering if your hypnitherapist did any kind of regression or time line work with you at all. Personally I don’t rate CBT as I found it lacking in any depth and unrealistic, asking you to tick boxes mainly.

Yes, unfortunately a lot of the CBT about is very superficial. It can be excellent, but it’s not for everyone.

I think some reading of Pema Chodron might be useful pre-therapy. She's a Buddhist monk and has written several books. I'm thinking of "Start where you are"

That's the paradox of low self esteem. That we believed we're not good enough. Starting where we are is about self-acceptance which I believe comes before the self esteem work (at least it has for me)

I do feel your pain. You're worth the work, I promise. You will agree with me some day

It's not particularly religious but it's very human.
I've done a lot of CBT aswell. The techniques are useful for challenging assumptions; however it requires surface thinking which isn't great if you're analytical like me. Learning to spot the analysis paralysis helped me to implement the cbt.

Human givens or acceptance and compassion therapy.

MmeBufo thank you. I have looked at schema therapy and it sounds interesting. The whole repeating the same patterns throughout your life makes sense.

thistimeofyear
I had around 5 sessions. Some of it was about teaching me self hypnosis and saying things like "I'm becoming more and more confident each day" etc but it just sounded silly and my head was like "I don't think so!". He also did one session on inner child work where he asked me to talk to my inner child and ask her what was wrong. Again it felt really silly. I just didn't find the whole experience worthwhile at all. It's a shame as I know it's helped alot of people but I don't know if it was me or the maybe the therapist I saw wasn't the right one for me.

Thanks. aufaitaccompli I will check the author out. I definitely don't accept myself for sure.

Mummyshark2018 was that a typo?
I will check acceptance therapy out too. Thanks

Hi thanks for replying. Could there wasn’t any rapport with the hypnotherapist or it could be the technique just wasn’t right for you. Do you have any idea where it comes from? Was it from how you were patented or were there specific incidences from your past? Have you heard if EFT? I’m interested because I have social phobia myself which I treat with EFT and hypnotherapy

Sorry typos! “Parented!”

Join a social group and do something you like doing or volunteering in a neighborhood group litter picking community gardening or even start a group

Acceptance and commitment therapy aka ACT

Hi, I would try Integrative Counselling. Be prepared to get stuck in and do your own work alongside someone else who will hold the space but allow you to explore what you need to explore. You may want to stop, and fall back on old coping mechanisms, but I would advise you to push on through until you are out the other side. Good luck. You can do this. Go and live.

Definitely Schema therapy! It’s the only thing that’s working for me!

No op it is a real thing :-)

www.hgi.org.uk/human-givens/why-human-givens-approach-therapy-different