{"id":8768,"date":"2014-09-11T11:00:28","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T10:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=8768"},"modified":"2022-10-26T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T11:00:00","slug":"unemployment-improving-self-esteem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/unemployment-improving-self-esteem.htm","title":{"rendered":"Do You Have the Unemployment Blues?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"13903379060_ab3d40064b_z\"<\/a>A few hours ago you were feeling competent and content. Maybe even a bit cocky, wondering if it was time for a new challenge. Suddenly, all that is out the window. You\u2019ve lost your job and your world has changed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why does joblessness cause such low self-esteem?<\/h3>\n

Part of healthy self-esteem is a realistic appreciation of<\/strong> the knowledge, skills, and qualities you offer the world. Finding yourself without a job of course challenges this self-assessment so can leave you filled with doubt. It challenges your sense of security and optimism, and your self-confidence along with it.<\/p>\n

It’s also common that joblessness is merely a catalyst that re-awakens long-standing self-esteem issues.<\/strong> Many people go through life with persistent feelings of unworthiness, and such feelings are rarely caused by a single event like job loss.<\/p>\n

They are distorted self-assessments that formed long ago, often as a result of negative childhood experiences<\/strong> like having an unusually critical or punitive parent, being bullied<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, having a learning disability that made fitting in and keeping up with peers difficult, or traumatic experiences like homelessness, witnessing violence, or surviving a natural disaster<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Improving self-esteem<\/h3>\n

\"improving<\/a>After losing a job, your first reaction may be to lay low<\/strong> and lick your wounds, or take some well-deserved time off. This is fine for a brief period, but letting days turn into months is likely to make things worse. Isolation from friends, co-workers and the workplace itself dents your self-image. You go from seeing yourself as an active, involved person to seeing yourself as someone on the margins.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to stop the self-esteem slide before it gets rolling<\/strong>, as lack of confidence often surfaces during interviews you then take for a new job, making you seem nervous, uncomfortable and desperate. This of course just lowers your self-esteem further.<\/p>\n

Here are some steps you can take for improving self-esteem up and keeping you viable for the job marketplace:<\/p>\n