Hi there,

For me, it was a hunch that I was worth something, kind of like, 'against all odds'. My poor self-esteem comes from my parents not being able to see and love me as I was. I always had a suspicious feeling something was not quite right in our family - frankly, that my parents were wrong about me being 'bad' or 'the wrong kind of person'. Finally, at the age of 22, I dropped out of university to get a job instead so that I could afford therapy.

The problem is, our sense of self forms in relation to how others view us. Especially as children, when someone tells us we're worthless - through abandonment or bullying, for example, or by just looking at us as though we are - and we don't have anyone to correct that view, we might start believing it ourselves.

I ultimately got tired of trying to control my negative thoughts and abusive selftalk. I felt there had to be a better way, something that would rid me of those voices for good. I've found it's finding people who really do love me for who I am. At my smallest and greatest. Not people who 'love' me if I do, say, think, feel what they want, but people who are willing to listen and accept me even when they don't 'get' me. Their loving voices and words ultimately replace the bad ones.