Cognitive Distortions: Countering Low Self-Esteem

Cognitive Distortions
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Cognitive Distortions
Countering Low Self-Esteem
The video by Everett is eye-opening as far as self-esteem is concerned in that it entails crucial insights into the causes of low self-esteem and how to counter them. According to Everett (Everett, 2013), the biggest enemy of self-esteem is clinging to negative thoughts. She uses herself as an example by intimating how, as a young girl, she loathed her physical outlook, especially her legs. Further, she found her background quite disgusting and, for instance, would seldom talk about her mother. All these made her feel inferior to the people around her. However, she experienced a turnaround for the better when her friend implored her to meet herself. That turning point actually enabled her to assist a group of girls build their self-esteem later on.
While working with the girls, Everett implemented a brilliant and pragmatic exercise to bolster the girls' esteem. As indicated earlier, the biggest threat to self-esteem is harboring negative thoughts. In cognizance of this, Everett encouraged the girls to delete all their negative thoughts while fully embracing the positive ones (Everett, 2013). She encouraged the girls to turn up the volume of positive thoughts. She also used another technique to show how important it is to surround ourselves with people who make us feel loved and appreciated. This is one approach I would use on the teenagers in the FSI family. Seeing as they have been thrown out of their house, they might be feeling unloved and unwanted. To counter this warped belief and redeem their self-importance, I would encourage them to have friends who will be a constant reminder of their importance. Everett also stressed the significance of acknowledging the positive attributes of others. Since this helps cultivate a positive and friendly environment, I would use this on the FSI teenagers. This would considerably help them forget the toxic environment they endured in their uncle’s hands.