What are Confidence and Self-Esteem

Confidence is about how much you believe in your ability to do something. It might relate to how comfortable you feel speaking in a group, trying something new, or handling life’s challenges. Confidence can change depending on the situation — you might feel confident at work, but unsure in social situations, or the other way around.

Self-esteem is deeper. It’s about how you see and value yourself as a person — your worth, your identity, and the way you talk to yourself on the inside. Someone with healthy self-esteem tends to feel they are “enough” as they are, even when they make mistakes or go through hard times.

While confidence is often about what we do, self-esteem is about who we believe we are.

When confidence or self-esteem feels low

You might:

• Avoid new opportunities in case you “fail”

• Constantly compare yourself to others

• Over-apologise or struggle to say no

• Doubt your abilities or feel like an imposter

• Feel uncomfortable in your own skin, even when things are going well

These feelings are more common than you might think — and they are not your fault. Often they’re rooted in past experiences, like criticism, rejection, or feeling like you had to earn love or approval.

You don’t have to stay stuck in self-doubt

Counselling can help you explore where these patterns began and how to change them. We’ll work together to rebuild trust in yourself, shift the way you relate to your thoughts, and help you feel more grounded in your own worth — not for who you "should" be, but for who you already are.