How to Build Self-Esteem: 5 Free Self-Esteem Worksheets
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As a therapist, you may work with a number of clients who struggle with low self-esteem. People with low self-esteem often have deep-seated, negative beliefs about the kind of person they are—and they view these beliefs as truth or facts, rather than as opinions. Low self-esteem may be because of another concern like depression, relationship conflicts, or chronic illness, but it can also be a stand-alone concern.
For these clients, your work together in therapy can help change their inner narrative about themselves, and begin to build up their self-esteem and confidence.
How to build self-esteem
So what does building self-esteem look like in practice? There are a number of different ways your work in therapy can help. Therapy for self-esteem can help clients learn to recognize negative self-talk and self-criticism, and learn how to reframe those thoughts to be more compassionate.
In your work together, you can help clients recognize the things about themselves or their lives that they already like, or help them discover a strength they have that they never considered before. At the same time, therapy for self-esteem can also help clients identify the areas of their lives they would like to improve, and can help them set healthy and achievable goals to do so.
Therapy for self-esteem can also encourage clients to recognize the things they’re proud of themselves for, or what their family, friends, or community is proud of them for.. It’s also a good chance to start a practice like journaling or mindfulness that can help clients be more present and aware in their daily lives.
5 free self-esteem worksheets
Building self-esteem will look different for each client depending on their concerns, age, and other factors. These free self-esteem worksheets can be put to use right away in your practice, or if needed, you can adapt them or use them as a starting point to best fit your clients’ needs.
Strengths list worksheet
The strengths list worksheet is just what it sounds like—a list of your client’s strengths. When a person can recognize and then use their strengths in daily life, it can help build their self-esteem and confidence. This self-esteem worksheet can be completed in session with your clients, and then used as a reference as they go about their daily life. You can ask your client to complete the list as homework and discuss it later, or you can build up the list together.
On the worksheet, have your clients write down things about themselves they consider to be strengths. If needed, you can adapt the worksheet to include a list of traits, and ask your clients to circle the ones that apply to them.
Strengths exploration/application worksheet
This strengths exploration worksheet can be used as an extension of the strengths list, so the two can be used in tandem.
Using the strengths you and your clients identify on the strengths list worksheet, discuss what situations or circumstances those strengths can put to use in. The worksheet includes sections for relationships, professional life, and personal fulfillment—but you can add or change those sections depending on your clients and their goals. Have your clients specify which of their strengths can help them in each of those situations.
Self-esteem journal worksheet
The self-esteem journal worksheet can be used over the course of multiple days or weeks as a recurring practice. This self-esteem worksheet promotes positive self-reflection, and can help your clients self-esteem by encouraging them to notice things about themselves or their lives that’s currently going well.
The worksheet includes a list of questions and other prompts to help your client start this self-reflection. You can use any or all of these questions, or you can use them to come up with your own to help promote your client’s goals.
Assertive communication worksheet
The assertive communication worksheet is intended to help clients who may struggle with communication skills as a result of low self-esteem. It can be difficult for clients to share thoughts or feelings if they don’t think those thoughts or feelings have value. Learning to communicate in a more assertive way can help your clients improve their relationships with others, their professional lives, and also help them feel better about themselves.
The first part of this self-esteem worksheet is mostly a reference guide for the difference between assertive, aggressive, and passive communication styles. Many clients struggling to build their self-esteem may hear “assertive communication” and think it will feel overly aggressive or not true to themselves, so this section of the worksheet will help address some of those concerns.
Then, the worksheet has sections for three different scenarios where your client has the opportunity to communicate in a more assertive way, as well as a section for them to describe how they feel after doing so. You can use this worksheet over a period of time to help track progress as you help your clients become more assertive. If needed, you can also adapt this worksheet to be hypothetical situations, and encourage your clients to think about how they might feel when they communicate more assertively.
Best possible self worksheet
The best possible self worksheet encourages your client to think forward and imagine areas of their life where they can be, as the title suggests, their best possible self. This helps the two of you set goals for areas that need improvement, and also helps emphasize any parts of your client that they already feel good about.
This self-esteem worksheet can be broken into three sections to start: personal, professional, and social. You can also work with your client to adapt or change these sections to align with their goals.
To complete the worksheet, have your client imagine a future where they are their best possible selves in each section. Then have them write down what skills, goals, or strengths they would want to have in each of those sections.
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