Treatment and Counseling for Low Self Esteem

Anxiety and depression are the most commonly witnessed psychiatric disorders in adolescence. The prevalence of both anxiety disorder and depression increase in the adolescence period and progresses to young adulthood. The final result of these developments is low self-esteem. General prevalence measures for depression stand between 2 to 4%. Recurrence rates are placed at 70% in a span of five years. Point prevalence rates for anxiety disorders stand at 20% and show stability across one's life. Furthermore, anxiety and depression highly co-occur. They also occur along with other psychiatric complications (Lee & Hankin, 2009).

Self-Esteem, Depression and Anxiety

The CBT (2006) center describes self-image as a circus mirror which remolds the shape and size of a person into one that departs from the way one really looks like. These are perceptions of how we see and think of ourselves, how we think others see us, the beliefs about ourselves, our present, our future and our world in general influence three areas, i.e. the respect for self, our self-worth and our self-acceptance.

The schema of self-esteem is known to be a cognitive reflection of the self (in this case) driven by one's experience and influences the way the information one receives is processed. Compared to the cognitive depression model, they occur as a result of learning and subsequently influence how a person makes sense when it comes to low self-esteem. It is holistic. It does not reflect self-appreciation in differentiated qualities and sections of the self. It has to do with complementary underestimations of one's abilities, qualities and even assets; while overestimating the weaknesses, the flaws and deficits. Its manifestations occur at many levels including abstract beliefs to thoughts, feelings and actions that occur every minute (Fennell, 1997).

Cognitive Behavior Therapy/Treatment Case Study
A female Caucasian who is currently fresh on college said that she came to counseling because she had been caught in possession of alcohol in the college dorm. She explained that although her friends in the dorm at the time were drunk, she was not. She said she only drank to follow suit. She said that she found college stressful compared to high school where it was smooth for her. Apart from the high study demands, it was hard to make friends for her. She denied having a drug problem stating that she once tried marijuana in high school but stopped because she didn't fancy how it made her feel. She stated that she sometimes had time out with her friends and drank but denied intoxication or experiencing hangovers. She denied being abused; although she admitted that she was teased a little in high school. She reported having good social relations although she sometimes thought that some people were taking advantage of her for pushing her to complete homework for them and hold dorm parties. She said she had never addressed these issues with her friends and quipped that it wasn't a big deal. She reported that she was the only child in her family and thought of her father as a good person while her mother was something of a controlling one. She reported that her parents, sometimes, had a difficult relationship. She also reported feeling as if she was playing the middle man role in her parents' relationship.

CBT has long been applied to treat depression. It has lately expanded the scope of the problems it is applied to treat including panic, anxiety sexual problems, difficulty in relationships problems to do with eating, drug dependency, post-traumatic stress and panic disorders (Fennell, 1999, p. 23).

CBT offers me tried and tested solutions for lasting change. It encourages one to actively engage in seeking to overcome self-esteem issues and explores ways of planting new schemas into one's thought patterns as they observe the effects of such a process on their behavior themselves (this is the 'behavioral' element) (Fennell, 1999, pp. 23-24).

Approach to the Treatment

In order to help the client, find a solution to her occasional drinking and peer pressure, I will, firstly, ask the client to review her beliefs; how she acquired them and how she believes. The next process will be to document and discredit such beliefs. One option would be to review her friends' influence to complete their homework for them and lure her to drinking and check whether she thought that is a right thing. Talking with her parents regarding their strained relationship and informing her of its negative effect on her would also be one of the strategies. The next step would be about reshaping her relationship with friends. She should clearly inform her friends of the wrong things they make her do. She should inform them of her wish to change behavior for the good as individuals and as a group. She should learn to be firm on her stand about relations and things she likes and doesn't like (National Health Service, 2014).

Cognitive Behavior therapy is bound to help the client to apply an experimental approach on her behavior in everyday life situations. CBT will assist the client to effectively become their own therapist. They carefully observe their behavior, plan change and execute it. They evaluate the results on their own too. It has the advantage of being a continuous process that occurs beyond the counseling room.

REFERENCES

Centre for Cognitivebehavioural Therapy. (2006). Low Self-Esteem. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from Centre for Cognitivebehavioural Therapy: http://www.centreforcbtcounselling.co.uk/lsesteem.php

Fennell, M. J. (1997). Low Self-Esteem: A Cognitive Perspective. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, Vol 25, 1-25. Retrieved from Cambridge University Press: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/low-self-esteem-a-cognitive-perspective.pdf

Fennell, M. J. (1999). Overcoming Low Self-Esteem. London: Robinson Publishing.

Lee, A., & Hankin, B. L. (2009). Insecure Attachment, Dysfunctional Attitudes, and Low Self-Esteem Predicting Prospective Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety During Adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, Vol 38, Issue 2, 219 -- 231.Retrieved from National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2741157/

National Health Service. (2014, September 24). Raising low self-esteem. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from National Health Service: http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth/pages/dealingwithlowself-esteem.aspx