When people hear or think about self-love, they sometimes believe it to be selfish, even narcissistic. However, self-love is very commonly practiced and encouraged by counsellors as a way to increase self-esteem, improve interpersonal relationships and can lead to the reduction of anxiety and other negative conditions.
A great deal of our personal and interpersonal problems and issues results from our inability to love ourselves. This lack of self-consideration can be seen in how people undermine and sabotage their own success in business, in family, and in other interpersonal relationships.
Practicing self-love is more difficult than it sounds. People may trap themselves into negative thought processes that are counter to self-love. For example,
- I lost a relationship, I am unlovable
- I failed before, I don’t deserve this promotion
- I disappointed my friends and family, I am unworthy of their respect
While many may see these as extreme examples, they are more common than people realise. It is self-doubt, lack of confidence, lack of self-worth. Often, these are brought about by some drastic life event, recent or unresolved trauma.
Self-love helps to draw people back to understanding of themselves, their own value and self-worth. In doing so, it helps to alleviate and even resolve a host of self-destructive issues that may hold a person back from enjoying the successes and fruits of their effort and labour.
College of Allied Educators offers our Advanced Diploma in Counselling Psychology and Graduate Diploma in Counselling Psychology programme to help you understand yourself at a deeper level so you can grow personally and professionally
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