Our relationship with ourselves can be extremely complex, making it difficult to navigate on our own. Research shows low self-esteem and/or body issues can contribute to symptoms of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, etc. Low self-esteem can also impact how you take care of yourself, your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. 

When fostering an authentic relationship with yourself it is important to look at four components: self esteem, self worth, self confidence, and self compassion. 

• Self esteem focuses on what we think, feel, and believe about ourselves. This area touches on how much you like and accept yourself. It is common to get stuck in comparison here - whether it’s comparing ourselves with others or ourselves. 

• Self worth pertains to the core of our self that is tied to how we view our worthiness. This aspect focuses on how we see our value to ourselves and others in our life. Our self worth is based on internal and/or external criteria (sometimes our own and sometimes others). 

• Self confidence looks at our feelings of competence in specific areas - often based on our abilities. Here, we look at our personal belief of our own skills and abilities to achieve goals. Sometimes our belief in ourselves is distorted, which can lead to issues such as imposter syndrome. 

• Self compassion refers to the ability to accept oneself. Self compassion is comprised of 3 areas: (1) self kindness: being kind and supportive towards self as opposed to self criticism (especially if you are experiencing hardship, feel inadequate, or like you’ve failed); (2) mindfulness: holding a nonjudgmental view while being aware of what you are feeling within your body; (3) common humanity: ability to recognize these experiences are a normal part of being human. 

By focusing on the above areas, you can learn to be comfortable in your own skin, find your voice, and connect with yourself authentically. If you are looking to explore and/or improve your relationship with yourself, kindly reach out to one of our therapists for extra support!