Self-esteem is defined by a sense of confidence in one’s own worth, abilities and morals. It’s about how we value and perceive ourselves. Throughout our lives from childhood until the present moment, there are moments in time that impact our sense of self-worth. Some examples of how this can happen would be experiences of bullying, not fitting in, criticism from family members, etc. When these experiences happen, they leave an impact on us that creates damage to our sense of worth and takes away some levels of confidence and how we feel about ourselves.
A part of us can still be stuck in the moments where these things have happened and it leaves a lasting imprint. These experiences and how we were treated created negative beliefs that we hold about ourselves such as: “I’m not enough”, “I don’t deserve love”, “there’s something wrong with me”, etc. But don’t worry, there are ways to heal and integrate these parts of you and re-program these negative beliefs. It just requires you to do the inner work and the integration of these emotions in association with these experiences.
EMDR works in interesting ways and broadens the horizons of what one would consider “traumatic”. Believe it or not, everyone is a survivor of various kinds of traumas. Maybe to some, the word “trauma” comes off as “dramatic” when compared to other peoples’ experiences of trauma, but remember, there’s no comparison. The process of EMDR can be an amazing way to help re-program experiences that damage self-esteem. It’s possible to deep dive into the pain of the past and integrate the memories, the emotions, the negative beliefs we’ve formed and the body sensations.
EMDR when it works for people can be a very profound way to heal from low confidence and self-esteem issues. When we think of using EMDR for things that don’t seem like trauma in a traditional sense, but are, it changes the perspective on healing and what therapeutic techniques can be helpful for different people and different experiences. If you have been having experiences of low self-esteem and hold negative beliefs about yourself in association and resonate with EMDR, I would love to support you!