Having a healthy self-perception has been said to predict our health and well-being. Yet, staggering statistics continue to show our struggle with insecurity. A national report revealed that 7 in 10 girls don’t believe they’re good enough. Another study published by the American Psychological Association showed that there is no significant difference between men’s and women’s self-esteem during adolescence or young adulthood, proving that insecurity is an issue both men and women will battle from early in their lives. In Dr. Lisa Firestone’s own research, she found that the most common self-critical thought people have toward themselves is that they are different from everyone else – not in a positive sense, but in some negative, alienating way. Why is low self-esteem so prevalent? Why are we so insecure?
Insecurity affects every one of us. It seeps in and impacts different areas of our lives from our jobs to our relationships. Every one of us is guilty of comparing, evaluating and judging ourselves with great scrutiny. We all have an internal dialogue that accompanies our feelings of insecurity known as the “critical inner voice.” By understanding where this critical inner voice comes from and how it feeds our feelings of insecurity, we can come to understand the forces that drive us to put ourselves down.
In this presentation, Dr. Firestone will explain therapeutic steps to challenge and overcome the destructive inner critic that limits our lives. She will illustrate the value of practicing self-compassion and present ways to overcome self-sabotaging behaviors that feed feelings of insecurity. Individuals and therapists working with clients will learn how to deal with stress and challenge their negative cycle of thinking. They will learn techniques to develop their self-compassion and increase their emotional resilience in order to overcome feelings of insecurity in every area of their lives.
