Can Counseling Really Improve Your Self-Confidence?

Many people mistakenly believe that confidence is something you are either born with or without. The truth is, self-confidence is not a fixed quality. Instead, it is something that can be built upon or degraded–and therefore something you have to work for consciously.

We may be biased, but here at NPS, we believe counseling is one of the best places to build self-confidence. Whether you’ve always, sometimes, or never felt like a confident person, through therapy, you can learn to reframe and strengthen the way you see yourself.

Our therapists don’t offer quick fixes or surface-level treatment. Instead, they provide a safe space for you to work towards lifelong results.

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A Safe, Supportive Environment

Without a doubt, the number one quality of successful therapy is safety. With your therapist, you can feel safe sharing your thoughts and feelings and discussing your behaviors.

At first, you may question whether or not you really feel comfortable being open in therapy. Here is how we work to make therapy a safe and supportive place for clients:

Developing trust and rapport through empathy, active listening, and non-judgmental treatment.
Helping clients feel understood and validated.
Protecting client confidentiality whenever possible and being upfront about its limits.
Being flexible and adaptable to your changing circumstances and needs.
Offering compassionate guidance, comfort, and support.

Making our center a safe place for clients to talk about their lives and work on their mental health is our top priority. Know that when you’re ready to work on your self-confidence, you’ll receive the care, respect, and support that you deserve.

Identifying and Pushing Back on Negative Thoughts

Negative thoughts can be hugely detrimental to your self-perception and confidence. Whether you tend to think critically about yourself or simply have a generalized pessimism towards life, these negative thoughts can make you feel powerless and unworthy.

At NPS, we have counselors who specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is a type of counseling that helps you:

Identify the problematic thinking patterns that affect your life.
Change the way you think, and thereby change the way you feel and act.

Distorted thinking can cause you to exaggerate your flaws and ignore your strengths. With CBT, we can help you reframe your perceptions. At first, this will take conscious effort, but over time, you will find it becomes easier to think kindly about yourself and overcome life’s challenges. Our goal is to help you cultivate a more positive and resilient mindset.

Building Problem-Solving Skills

Building stronger problem-solving skills is a frequent topic in therapy. That’s because it plays an invaluable role in emotional regulation, collaboration and communication, productivity, and self-confidence. Knowing how to handle the challenges you face in life is empowering. It helps you feel more optimistic, more capable, and more willing to embrace change.

So, how do we approach problem-solving in therapy? We start by focusing on these skills:

Identifying problems before they become too big to handle.
Defining problems in optimistic and helpful terms.
Setting goals related to problems.
Generating possible solutions to problems.
Deciding on the best course of action.
Working towards goals in healthy and realistic ways.
Evaluating outcomes and determining next steps.

We want to help you reframe the way you think about life’s problems. Rather than insurmountable obstacles, they are challenges to be solved. In this effort, we may also identify and treat other mental health factors that could be at play, including anxiety or depression. Trust that we will give you all the relevant tools for moving forward in a positively and realistically.

Setting and Reaching Achievable Goals

Of course, changing the way you think about yourself and then gaining the tools needed to solve problems is only one part of the equation. You must also be able to put those frameworks and resources into practice. With that in mind, our counselors will also encourage you to set achievable goals and work towards achieving them.

As counselors, we know that this part of the process can be very challenging, but also deeply rewarding. Setting and achieving realistic goals can serve as a catalyst for greater confidence and capability. Additionally, clients often feel a renewed sense of purpose, meaning, and direction when they see how their choices and efforts lead to positive outcomes. All of this begins to have a snowball effect in which greater confidence leads to greater capability and so on.

Practicing Assertiveness

When set and working towards goals, one other skill we will work on throughout your sessions is assertiveness, or the ability to stand up for yourself in a respectful way. The more assertive you are, the more confident you are perceived to be, which can, in turn, help you to feel and act more confidently. Additionally, assertiveness helps you communicate, relate to others, and ensure your own needs are met. It can have a surprisingly holistic effect on your overall mental health.

We will work on assertiveness through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and a variety of other skill-building techniques. Once you understand your own needs and boundaries and believe you deserve to have them met, you will find it easier to communicate them with others respectfully.

Is It Time to Call a Counselor?

Building your self-confidence will have a dramatic effect on your quality of life. Not only will it help you feel happier and more at peace on the inside, but it will help you order your life the way you deserve. When we talk about self-confidence in a counseling setting, we also talk about emotional resilience, positive outlooks, and healthy relationships. If you’re ready to work towards those realistic goals, give us a call.

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