Self-esteem & life transitions

Low self-esteem is a quiet difficulty. From the outside, life may look perfectly functional; inside, there's a running commentary of not-good-enough, a tendency to discount every success and prosecute every mistake, and choices shaped by what you think you deserve rather than what you want. Life transitions — career change, becoming a parent, divorce, retirement, relocation — often bring it to the surface, because transitions unsettle the roles we'd been using as proof of our worth.

How therapy helps

Self-esteem responds well to a combined approach. CBT works directly with the self-critical machinery — the harsh standards, the discounting, the comparisons — and is effective at loosening its grip. The deeper work asks where the verdict came from in the first place: whose voice the inner critic borrowed, what you learned early about the conditions for being valued. When that becomes conscious, it loses authority.

What we'd work on

Turning down the inner critic; building self-worth that isn't contingent on achievement; making decisions from preference rather than fear; and navigating your transition as an opening rather than only a loss.