Improving Self-Esteem: Self-Criticism is Not Self-Improvement I hear it all the time from my clients: "If I'm not hard on myself, then what if I become complacent about the parts of me I want to improve?" Sure, it makes sense on the surface. If we are not critical of ourselves, what will motivate us to improve ourselves? The truth is actually much more complicated than that. Imagine running a marathon. The crowd can either cheer you on for all 26.2 miles or the crowd can

Self-care, the idea of taking out time in the day to attend to your own needs, gets a lot of traction in the general media and in the field of psychology. But, for many, self-care is deemed not important or, simply, a luxury they can't afford. Common refrains I hear a lot in my practice are, “I don’t have time” or “I need to take care of my family before I can worry about myself.” Although well-intentioned, these refrains can be harmful. Self-care is not a luxury or only f