As you likely already know, low self-esteem is a common struggle for many of us! If you’re seeking more direction or tangible activities to do with your clients on this topic, here are a few that I’ve used myself for inspiration and guidance within sessions (shoutout to Positive Psychology and Therapist Aid for the majority of these!):
- Most used: My Strengths and Qualities
- This one gets right to the point of compiling evidence of a client’s strengths, positive qualities, and capacities to overcome challenges. It seems simple, but it’s harder than it looks!
- To gain a baseline of client’s level of self-compassion: Self-Compassion Test
- This scores for self-judgement, isolation, and over-identification, which can indicate the strongest areas of need. Be aware that this test has 26 questions, so it does take a bit of time, and the questions can feel a bit redundant.
- To encourage identity-building and have some fun: Self-Esteem Sentence Completion
- I’ve found that this one has been especially useful with adolescents because it can encourage them to open up a bit more. This can also be re-done with long-term clients to compare new answers to the past ones!
- To explore the client’s strengths and ways they can use them: Strengths Exploration
- I like this one because it can help a client to see how much they actually use their strengths in various aspects of their life, as well as discover new ways to use them.
- To cultivate more realistic expectations: Reevaluating Perfectionist Standards
- If you notice your client has particularly high standards, this can help them to develop more flexibility with themselves and others.
- For healing people-pleasing tendencies: How to Stop People-Pleasing
- This one is good for exploring the root of your client’s low self-esteem and gaining awareness of approval-seeking behaviors.
- For young clients: Something About Me
- This is a briefer, more kid-friendly version of the strengths and qualities worksheet.
- To build authenticity: How Joined Up is Your Life
- This one looks over how a client is spending their time to encourage a value-driven lifestyle and assist with goal setting.
- For ongoing self-esteem reflection: Self-Esteem Journal for Adults
- I like to pull from this one at the end of sessions with clients who are working on self-esteem!
It’s up to you to determine whether these activities should be done within sessions or given to your client as homework. I highly recommend that you complete these yourself before bringing them into session to ensure that you’re comfortable with the material and confident that it can be helpful to your client.
