I lost what little confidence I had until for me, it took leaving the bad environment I was in. Surrounded now by wonderful people who care, who are a support network I never had before, people I can share & discuss things with & who I can truly emotionally connect with. Some are people I dont even always agree with but we do care & support each other.

I also found for me that I got involved in an amazing DBT group unlike any I have ever heard have been like. The leader taught it like a college class about how the mind actually works then helping us learn skills we never learned or knew to use before & helped & encouraged practice until they became part of our life. At least that's how it worked for me. Confidence has grown or regrown. I graduated the univ with a BS in accounting information systems with a minor in comp sci & held down a computer design engineering career for 15 years but always struggled with some level of lack of confidence, feeling I always had to work twice as hard to accomplish what came more natural to everyone else. Lived that way my whole life fighting for my independence though most never saw that internal battle going on in me. It was my environment I grew up in that I fought to get out of that was the worse on my confidence.

But now I feel free & in breaking away from the environment & the stress it caused it opened my mind to be even more capable of learning & understanding which in turn has definitely boosted my confidence though there are times when twinges of the past still haunt me, I've been gone 9 years now & it gets better constantly. Starting to trust the decisions I make but having close friends i TRUST I'm capable of discussing things with before making decisions has been key also. People I can share my frustrations with who are capable of understanding.....all this has gone into almost growing into a new person or maybe letting out the REAL person who has been trapped inside for so long.

I used to be afraid to participate in discussions for fear I would sound stupid like I always saw my dad doing. I have grown to realize that my thoughts do have value & aren't just superficial as I felt them to be. Just by talking with the people around me I have really connected with & have validated that my thoughts were of value.

All these things i have felt are a part of gaining or regaining confidence in ones life.