When Its More About Mind Than Body

Sanjay had never felt comfortable in his own skin. He had always compared himself to others and believed that he always fell short of his and others’ expectations. He was conscious of his looks especially his height and complexion. He struggled with feelings of inferiority and lack of confidence.

He thought that everyone was far better than him. One of the thoughts that bothered him was that he would never be in a relationship and would end up alone as he was not good enough.

How Counselor Sukriti helped restore his confidence

• The Counselor provided him with unconditional positive regard i.e acceptance and respect without judgement which was missing in his childhood
• Through probing and psychoanalysis, it was found that Sanjay was ridiculed for his looks and he carried those experiences till his adulthood which impacted his self confidence significantly
• He was given a safe space to express his feelings about his childhood experiences which were not shared before
• His labeling of himself as not good enough was challenged and his cognitive distortions i.e faulty patterns of thinking about how he perceived himself and others were examined and refuted
• His strengths and accomplishments were brought out and a holistic evaluation was done
• Communication skills were worked upon to improve his dynamics with his colleagues and friends

How Sanjay felt better

• Sanjay started replacing his negative harsh self criticisms with positive self talk which we practiced daily.
• Through insight development, a new perspective was developed about how the comparison did not prove beneficial
• This led to a steady improvement in his level of confidence which further improved his interactions with others.