Self-esteem is all about how we feel about ourselves, how we view ourselves, whether we like ourselves.  Self-esteem is being comfortable with who we are and how we look, and valuing ourselves, not allowing ourselves to be treated badly because we feel we don’t deserve any better.  The 70s weren’t perfect when I was growing up.  We used to care about what we wore and how we looked because that is what young people do.  We were aware if we were overweight or had spots but generally (I would suggest) we accepted that this was how we were, and although we might do things to improve ourselves there was less obsession in how we looked.   As a result, we probably liked ourselves better, that is, had better self-esteem.  Don’t get me wrong, some of us still lacked confidence, and there was anxiety, depression, and even suicide, but nothing like on the scale of the last twenty/thirty years.  It has been suggested that the increase in numbers of people suffering with low self-esteem is linked to ever increasing projections of perfection portrayed in young women’s’ magazines, TV, film and the internet.   Young men and boys are by no means exempt from low self-esteem.  Lack of or low self-esteem means that nothing is ever good enough.  The belief is that you have to be perfect in looks and everything you do in life or you are a failure.  This appears to have led to low self-esteem, a massive rise in depression (and perhaps also increasing recognition of what depression is) and many forms of self-harm.

When low self-worth continues into adulthood it can affect our career, ambitions and what we can achieve in life.  It can affect how we are treated by other people, our employers, our peers and our families.  The causes of low self-esteem can be rooted in our very early development. If you spend every day at school being told you are fat, ugly or not very bright by your peers it is hard not to think that this might be true.  Eventually what you see in the mirror is not what is there, but what you have been brainwashed into thinking.  As an adult, if your superior constantly criticizes you or tells you, you have not got what it takes to succeed, it is difficult to hold onto a sense of our own worth.  We need to change our attitudes positively towards ourselves to be happy and achieve our full potential.   Part of this is learning to build our confidence in ourselves in order to fully function as human beings, learning to trust ourselves and allowing us to redevelop our instincts about what is right and wrong.

So how can homeopathy help develop your self-esteem and by this, your confidence in yourself?  The first step is recognizing you need to deal with improving it either by homeopathy and/or another therapy.  This takes you to the consultation and working out how you came to feel like this and how a mentality that you are not worth very much developed.  We then try to think of ways of making you feel better by talking about and recognizing what you have achieved; how to handle your feelings, situations and other people differently; and giving voice and recognition to the expression of your own feelings.  As you will be aware if you have any knowledge of homeopathy, (or have read the rest of this website!), homeopathy sees everyone as individuals.  We are all unique, therefore how you feel or how a situation affects you will not necessarily be the same as anyone else.  As your homeopath I will be trying to understand how you are affected by the situation, your unique reaction; and then tailoring a remedy to help you rebalance over time, to essentially make you feel better about yourself and your worth, and cope with life more positively.    This is not an overnight job and it is not about making you into a person you are not.  It won’t make a natural introvert into an extrovert or vice versa.  It is about rebalancing the lovely you which you may be struggling to see.  It’s a journey!  Sometimes other therapies may be useful alongside homeopathy such as CBT, counselling, mindfulness, or EFT but homeopathy and homeopathic consultations, in my experience, can provide the long term support and catalyst needed to embark on this journey to learn to at least like ourselves a little better, if not to wholly appreciate who we are!