Do you ever catch yourself thinking things like, “I’m not good enough… people will leave me… I’m unlovable… I’m useless”?
These kinds of thoughts are what we call negative core beliefs. They’re the deep-down messages we carry about ourselves, and even though they don’t always make sense, they can end up running the show.
Often they start young. Maybe love in your family felt conditional, or you were told you had to try harder, be better, be different.
Maybe you were bullied or rejected.
And if you’re LGBTQ+, those beliefs can get reinforced by prejudice, shame, or the fear of not being fully accepted for who you are. It makes sense that over time, those experiences turn into powerful inner stories about your worth.
The tricky part is, those stories don’t stay in the past. They pop up when you brush off a compliment, when you doubt yourself at work, when you can’t quite trust a partner, or when you compare yourself harshly with others.
Therapy is a space to slow all of that down. Together, we can look at where those voices came from and begin to soften them. Part of that process is called reparenting—learning how to treat yourself with the care, patience and encouragement you might have needed back then.
It can be as simple (and as hard) as speaking to yourself more kindly, letting yourself rest without guilt, or actually celebrating your own wins instead of brushing them away.
Over time, those old beliefs lose their grip, and a gentler, more balanced story can take their place.
If any of this sounds familiar, I’d love to hear from you.
How about booking in for a free 15-minute online introduction session to see if we are the right fit?