Do I Deserve to Be Loved?

In my sessions, I oftentimes encounter clients who acknowledge that they may be inclined to be hard on themselves. We talk about what an inner critic sounds like and how to combat times when that voice becomes especially loud.

However, what if we want to graduate from just not being mean to ourselves and move to a place where we start believing we're worthy of effort and love?

After all, we teach people how to treat us, and it's hard not to reinforce negative cycles when we don't believe in ourselves.

Luckily, like so many things, the recipe for building your self-worth isn't some obscure fable.

We start believing we're worthy of love and effort by...

Setting boundaries that enable how we deserve to be treated
Recognizing and articulating what we need in our relationships
Exercising our self-compassion in moments when we need it
Allowing for learning and mistakes without them defining who we are
Building examples of and evidence for different stories and templates that highlight our worthiness
Surrounding ourselves with people who also believe we deserve love and effort
Developing self-trust by practicing treating ourselves well in action and thought

As is so often the case in mental health, it's less about knowing what to do and more about doing it.

And that's where it can be helpful to have a little support.