Self Esteem oh where, oh where has my
GONE?
Interview with psychologist Lynn Meyer
22
glam | self-diy
Written by: Jenna Ma One of your classmates is staring at you—you hear the word “ugly”. It feels like you’ve been alienated from everyone around you... you feel like you’re nothing. Everyone is called names more than once as a child, adolescent, or even an adult. Lynn Meyer is a psychologist who works with individuals who have self esteem and relationship issues. She understands what people go through and how to help them. “Self esteem is caused by our self image and what we think of ourselves,” she said. “It can be because a bad memory of a parent, or childhood bully.” “The main issue in for teens is that in the area of growth, it is difficult as a teenager to try and fit in group,” said Meyer “Adolescents are trying to define their identity.” This process is called individualizing, where individuals do not rely much on their parents anymore and are beginning to do things on their own. There are sometimes issues that occur during individualizing. “It is healthy to individualize, but what happens is that the teen is putting their self image all based on what their friends or group feel about them, than about themselves.” What you think about your self image is important to your self esteem. “It [our self image] is caused by our life experiences, for example maybe someone had a parent that tells them they are not good enough, or a teacher might have over criticized the individual.”