The Power of Self-Worth
By: Jenna Beever
Caption:
Worth More
Link:
https://flic.kr/p/P2T7hS
Young (2017) addresses self-worth as
“a global feelings that one has a right to exist” (p. 215). This includes one’s
attitudes of his or her self, which may be affected by a various array of
factors. More than ever, I believe a lot of individuals will enter our office
with many problems rooted in a negative self-worth. Even when a person has
great qualities, many have trouble seeing them as ‘good enough’. It will be our
job to journey with them and help them see that they have been created
wonderfully with purpose. It was Virginia Satir who said that one must love his
or her self before he or she can properly love another (Brubacher, 2006). A
negative self-worth not only affects the individual’s view of self, but it
further affects their relationships. The Human Validation Process Model by
Satir says that a problem of self-worth occurs from early family experience
(Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2012).
When approaching clients, they will
be shaped by the past and we have the difficult responsibility of helping them
face and break the chains of the past. Imagine a smart, beautiful, capable
person sitting in your office expressing he or she does not feel ‘good enough
to live anymore’ or that he or she ‘never gets anything right’. It will be hard
to face out clients irrational beliefs, but we have the honor of showing them
their truth worth throughout the therapeutic experience. While this can be
challenging to help an individual find wellness, Satir said, “all human beings
carry with them all resources they need to flourish” (Stites, 2017). I am
excited for the day I can help a client find what they are looking for, the
moment when everything clicks and they say, “wow, I finally love who I am”.
References
Brubacher,
L. (2006). INTEGRATING EMOTION-FOCUSED THERAPY WITH THE SATIR MODEL. Journal
of Marital and Family Therapy, 32(2), 141-53.
Goldenberg, H., & Goldenberg, I. (2012). Family
therapy: An overview. Cengage Learning.
Murdock,
N. L. (2013). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: A case approach
(3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Stites,
M. (2017). Family Systems Theory. [Powerpoint slides].
Young, M.
E. (2017). Learning the art of helping: Building blocks and techniques.
Pearson Higher Ed.
Hey Jenna! Thank you so much for your blog post this week on self worth and the importance of understanding challenges our future clients might be facing. My favorite quote from your blog post was "but we have the honor of showing them their truth worth throughout the therapeutic experience." It truly is an honor to be in the counseling room, sharing individuals deep hurts, pains, challenges, and struggles. It just reminds me that what we are doing is so much more than a career, and we have to make sure we treat it as such. Thanks again for a great post!
ReplyDeleteBrenn
Jenna, I see a compassionate heart in you that truly desires to see people live in freedom! Yes, it is interesting that many individuals (myself included) have struggled with positive self-worth. How wonderful it is that as followers of Christ, we know who we truly are: individuals loved and created by God. Each person has a specific purpose and reason for living, and as future counselors we get to walk alongside those who are struggling to see that purpose. A verse comes to mind: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Even though I am not sure Virginia Satir was a Christian, I agree that there may be truth to the idea that if one is not able to see themselves as a person worthy of love, it will likely be hard for them to see others as worthy of love also. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteJenna, I really enjoyed your post. Self-worth is extremely important, and a host of issues can be resolved once an individual has a positive self-worth. I'm glad that you mentioned how early family experiences can create problems with self-worth. Furthermore, I think one's self-worth can be influenced by that which others say to them such as their friends or teachers. When counseling these clients, Narrative therapy may prove to be beneficial because it addresses the story that we have been telling ourselves. For example, if my father says that I will never amount to anything and that I'm a failure, I will eventually begin to believe it and allow this to dictate what I do in life. This topic is extremely important, and I'm grateful that you wrote about it.
ReplyDeleteJenna, I enjoyed reading your post. I would also have to agree with Joe's previous post. As you may already know, I come from a large family; my parents spent a lot of their time provide for the family having limited to take care of each person's individual needs. Furthermore, this as forced me to fulfill my needs in other people or objects in my environment. I now have begun to realize the I focus my worth on others opinion of me instead of focusing my worth according to who God says I am. Self-worth is an important topic for counselors, and it's important to address with client’s to help them move on from one point of their life to the next.
ReplyDelete