Dr Axel Rüdiger Würz
Specialist Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy (UK)
MD, MRCPsych,DiplCBT,DiplClinHyp
Specialist Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy (UK)
MD, MRCPsych,DiplCBT,DiplClinHyp
Being Good To Yourself
Being good to yourself!? What does that actually mean? You may have often come across the sentence 'just love yourself', wondering how you are supposed to switch on an emotion like 'self-love'. Actually, it is much more helpful to start looking at behaviour instead of an abstract word such as 'self-love'.
The following questions may be a start in that direction:
How do you show someone who is important to you that you care? What do you do to support someone who you really want to thrive? How do you help them out when they are having a hard time? What do you do to show you are still there for them even though they messed up? How do you take care of them to keep them healthy and safe? What do you do to encourage them as they are trying to reach their goals?
So even when you don't feel 'self-love' (yet) you can decide to more and more behave in a supportive way towards yourself. You can move away from trying to whip yourself into action and instead encourage yourself as you take steps towards your goals.
Cultivating this supportive approach towards yourself you can finally achieve goals that you may have struggled with for years such as
managing stress
dealing with setbacks
moving towards professional and private goals
increasing wellbeing
eating more healthily
getting physically fitter
'Being good to oneself' as therapeutic stance is an integral part of CBT and especially emphasised in Internal Family System Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Positive Psychotherapy.
The following questions may be a start in that direction:
How do you show someone who is important to you that you care? What do you do to support someone who you really want to thrive? How do you help them out when they are having a hard time? What do you do to show you are still there for them even though they messed up? How do you take care of them to keep them healthy and safe? What do you do to encourage them as they are trying to reach their goals?
So even when you don't feel 'self-love' (yet) you can decide to more and more behave in a supportive way towards yourself. You can move away from trying to whip yourself into action and instead encourage yourself as you take steps towards your goals.
Cultivating this supportive approach towards yourself you can finally achieve goals that you may have struggled with for years such as
managing stress
dealing with setbacks
moving towards professional and private goals
increasing wellbeing
eating more healthily
getting physically fitter
'Being good to oneself' as therapeutic stance is an integral part of CBT and especially emphasised in Internal Family System Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Positive Psychotherapy.