Skip to main content
Mental health Life issue

Low self-esteem

Low self-esteem involves a persistently negative view of yourself — your worth, your abilities and your right to be treated well. It underpins many mental health difficulties and affects relationships, career, and quality of life. Unlike confidence (which is situational), self-esteem is a deep-rooted sense of self-worth that can be substantially changed through therapy.

See therapies that may help

What is Low self-esteem?

Self-esteem refers to the overall value and worth we place on ourselves as people. Low self-esteem involves a persistent, deeply held belief that you are fundamentally inadequate, worthless, unlikeable or undeserving — regardless of what you achieve or what others say about you.

Low self-esteem typically develops in childhood through experiences of criticism, neglect, abuse, bullying or conditional love — situations where positive regard was dependent on performance or behaviour. These experiences generate core beliefs ("I am not good enough", "I am unlovable") that become the lens through which all subsequent experience is filtered.

Low self-esteem is not the same as low confidence, though the two often co-occur. Confidence relates to specific skills or situations; self-esteem relates to fundamental self-worth. It is possible to be outwardly confident and high-achieving while privately holding a very negative view of oneself.

Signs and symptoms

Signs of low self-esteem include:

  • Persistent negative beliefs about yourself ("I'm not good enough", "I don't deserve good things")
  • Difficulty accepting compliments or positive feedback
  • Harsh self-criticism and self-blame
  • Fear of failure — avoiding challenges to prevent confirming negative beliefs
  • People-pleasing and difficulty setting boundaries
  • Staying in relationships or situations that are not good for you
  • Comparing yourself unfavourably to others
  • Sensitivity to criticism or rejection
  • Feeling like an imposter, despite evidence of competence

How therapy can help

Low self-esteem responds well to therapy, though it typically requires a longer-term therapeutic relationship than acute conditions like specific phobias or panic. The most effective approaches include:

  • CBT for low self-esteem — based on Melanie Fennell's model, this specifically targets the negative core beliefs and self-perpetuating behaviours that maintain low self-esteem
  • Schema therapy — works with the deep-rooted schemas (belief systems) that develop in response to early adverse experiences
  • Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) — builds self-compassion as an antidote to harsh self-criticism, particularly helpful for people with high levels of shame
  • Psychodynamic therapy — explores the developmental origins of negative self-beliefs in depth
  • ACT — building a different, more flexible relationship with self-critical thoughts rather than trying to eliminate them

Seeking help

If low self-esteem is affecting your relationships, your career, your ability to set limits with others, or your general enjoyment of life, therapy can produce meaningful and lasting change. This is not quick fix territory — building genuine self-worth takes time — but the changes that come from good therapeutic work on self-esteem are among the most life-transforming in the therapy room.

When choosing a therapist, look for someone who resonates with you personally — the quality of the therapeutic relationship is particularly important for self-esteem work. Most types of therapy can address self-esteem; what matters most is the therapist's warmth, skill and experience.

Therapies that may help with Low self-esteem

Showing 16 therapies linked to Low self-esteem.

Frequently asked questions

Can therapy really change how I feel about myself?

Yes — this is one of therapy's most powerful applications. Core beliefs about self-worth, while deeply entrenched, are not fixed. CBT, schema therapy and compassion-focused therapy all have good evidence for producing meaningful and lasting changes in self-esteem. The process takes time and commitment, but the results can be genuinely life-changing.

What is the difference between self-esteem and confidence?

Confidence is situational — your belief in your ability to do specific things. Self-esteem is your fundamental sense of your own worth as a person. You can be confident in certain areas while having low self-esteem, and vice versa. Therapy for low self-esteem addresses the root level rather than building confidence in specific skills.

Does low self-esteem come from childhood?

Often yes — early experiences of criticism, conditional love, neglect, bullying or abuse are common roots of low self-esteem. The beliefs formed in response to these experiences become the default lens through which we see ourselves. However, significant adult experiences — such as abusive relationships or repeated failures — can also damage self-esteem.

Can self-help books improve self-esteem?

Some people find structured self-help resources helpful as a starting point, particularly those based on CBT principles (Melanie Fennell's 'Overcoming Low Self-Esteem' is a well-regarded example). For deeper or more longstanding low self-esteem, professional therapy is generally more effective than self-help alone.

How long does therapy for low self-esteem take?

This varies significantly depending on the depth and origins of the low self-esteem. For situational low self-esteem, 12–16 sessions of CBT may produce significant improvement. For low self-esteem rooted in early adverse experiences, longer-term therapy (schema therapy, psychodynamic work) is often more appropriate and may run for a year or more.