Does my little girl feel bad about herself?

Did you know that low self-esteem is often related to depression, poor academic achievement, and negative body image, influencing how a girl sees the world around her?  It influences how a person perceives her environment and how she reacts to that environment.  Self-esteem is especially precarious when we are hitting those critical years of pre-puberty and puberty. 

Here are some signs that your daughter may be struggling with self-esteem issues.

1.      WALKING WITH THEIR HEAD DOWN- One of the most observable signs of low self-esteem is when a young person walks everywhere with their head pointed downwards and their chin stuck to the top of their chest. This is physical expression of shame and embarrassment.  Tweens/teens who with low self -esteem often feel like they want to hide and get through public situations unnoticed.

2.      NO EYE CONTACT- Tweens/teens who feel that they are not worth much find it very hard to make eye contact with others when communicating. They avoid making a connection because they assume others have the same negative view of them as they do.

3.      BAD-MOUTHING THEMSELVES- The language tweens and teens use will often convey what it is they believe, this is especially true of how they speak about themselves. Teenagers who commonly refer to themselves as hopeless or worthless are expressing a belief about who they are. Phrases like “l am useless”, “I always get it wrong”, “I could never do that” or “the world would be better off without me” are examples of someone expressing negative beliefs about who they are.

4.      LOOKING FOR THE BAD IN OTHERS- Teenagers who feel bad about themselves will often seek to be negative about others. This is usually a defense mechanism.  Often teens will be most critical of others who exhibit similar qualities that they don’t like about themselves. Other times it is a simple matter of making themselves feel or look better by making others look worse.

Flower Power is an 8 session group counseling module for girls between the ages of 8-12 years old.  The goal is to strengthen self-esteem and self-perception, promote awareness about how certain environments can affect self-esteem and promote resiliency in a real-time, down-to-earth manner that girls appreciate. 

The Flower Power program uses goal-setting and progress monitoring while building a strong community of caring, support and encouragement.  It supports the learning process and encourages girls to handle pressures and anxiety in a more effective manner.

Let’s help our girls see the beauty in themselves by calling today to join the group.  Not sure if a group is the right choice?  No problem, we also offer individual sessions as well.  Call us at (919) 412-5685 for more information.


www.peakprofessioanlgroup.com