When your inner critic has the loudest voice in the room, it’s hard to believe anything good about yourself. In this post, we explore why self-esteem struggles run deep—and how therapy, curiosity, and evidence-based strategies can start to shift those deeply rooted beliefs. Ready to challenge the labels you’ve been wearing?

Unveiling Perfectionism: Exploring Its Impact on Your Mental Health and Well-being Dealing with perfectionism is exhausting! That voice telling you nothing is ever good enough, the comparisons, the discomfort with praise, the striving that never quite gets there. It takes a real toll on your mental health, leading to anxiety and depression. Does your mind ever tell you the story that nothing you ever do is good enough? Does it compare you to other people and tell you that you

Have you ever felt like a fraud in your own successes? Perhaps you were sitting in a room full of accomplished individuals and were wondering how on earth you got there? Was your mind telling you the story that your achievements are just a result of luck and circumstance rather than being down to your talent and hard work? Were you feeling anxious that at any moment you would be exposed as a fake and a fraud, despite all the things you have accomplished and the expertise you

Introduction: The Significance of Celebrating Small Wins I have been interested in the work of BJ Fogg for some time. He is a scientist based at Stanford University whose work primarily revolves around implementing behavioural change. He has found that the most important skill in new habit formation is the ability to feel good about the behaviour, either as you are doing it or immediately afterwards. He explains that when you do something and then feel a positive emotion abou

Not everyone welcomes Valentine's Day with open arms. While the day is often associated with happy couples, chocolates, and flowers, it can also be a painful reminder of loneliness and isolation for others. Understanding Valentine's Day Challenges For those who are single, the day can be a painful reminder of their relationship status, perhaps bringing feelings of being left out. For those who are in a relationship, the pressure to have the perfect day can lead to stress and

In a recent post I talked about self-esteem and self-acceptance. When we can accept ourselves, acknowledging both our flaws and our unique talents, the world may seem to become a more accommodating place for us. We may well find that some of the causes of our stress disappear and we consequently gain joyful experiences more frequently. Accepting ourselves completely is not easy – it entails courage, wisdom and compassion. When we are plagued by difficult emotions such as anxi

Comparing yourself to others is a reliable way to reduce your confidence, motivation, and self-esteem. It is quite a natural thing to do to make these types of comparisons, because most people do it. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a good, or healthy, move! Become the best version of yourself by avoiding comparing yourself to others There are a number of things to consider when you compare yourself to someone else: Everyone has a different starting point. You might be just le

Throughout the years of working with clients I have noticed that, regardless of the difficulties people are bringing to therapy, more often than not they are carrying around with them the harshest of critics in the form of their internal dialogue. Sometimes this leads to low self-esteem, a state where we frequently (if not constantly) judge and find ourselves lacking…an unhelpful thinking habit discussed in my earlier post here. There are two parts to self-esteem. Firstl