In 7 Expert Strategies for Working with Clients Who Feel They Are “Never Good Enough," we'll hear several insights on treating clients who feel inadequate who feel that they just don't "measure up."
Even though a person can seem pretty accomplished on the outside, internalized feelings of inadequacy can run deep and undermine any positive experience. Left untreated, this issue can have a severe impact on the person's relationships, their work, and the way they navigate the world.
Here is a rundown of the seven experts in this video and some of the strategies they use when working with clients who feel they are never good enough.
Bill O'Hanlon LMFT, pulls inspiration from his work with people with eating disorders. He found that they would often carry a lot of shame into the session. Bill looks at the specific way these clients would evaluate themselves based on how they approached food. He'd then focus on separating the "doing" from the "being" to help open up some space in the way they selfassess.
Marsha Linehan PhD, gets right to the "evidence" that supports a client's negative belief. She looks for ways to bring a person from the realm of "feelings" to the concrete world of "facts." As Marsha tells it, this is how they're going to start to diminish a sense of not being good enough.
Rick Hanson PhD, carries this idea a bit further to help clients look at the impersonality of the situation. He helps them to explore their innocence in the matter that might have created these feelings, focusing on areas where those with responsibility might have dropped the ball. Through this greater understanding, Rick helps the client start to draw down the selfcriticism and blaming that lead to feelings of "not good enough".
Shelly Harrell PhD, then turns her eye toward society's role in making a person feel "less than". She helps the client look at the way they've been living with cultural messaging, teasing out the unhealthy layers of judgment that they may have been internalizing throughout their life.
Pat Ogden PhD, next takes a bottomup approach by looking at where these negative beliefs are held in the body. She looks at the external manifestation of feeling "never good enough" by how it presents itself in the client's posture. Pat then focuses on helping the client find a different, healthier way to live in their body.
Sue Johnson EdD, comes at this from a slightly different angle. Sue views the issue through an attachment frame, and applies this to her psychotherapy work. She shares the reason why relationships play such a critical role in helping someone rise above feelings of inadequacy.
Jack Kornfield PhD, closes things out by holding up the power of love and acceptance. Jack explores how enlisting the human spirit can counter negative thinking and help the client open up to untold possibility.
With these 7 expert perspectives, you can add to your clinical tools to help better target your interventions. And help clients start to move away from a "not good enough" mindset that has been running their life.
Be sure to visit some of NICABM's many other expert videos on treating common client issues. You'll get the latest strategies from Peter Levine as well as Bessel van der Kolk MD, Pat Ogden PhD, Marsha Linehan PhD, Dan Siegel MD, and several other top experts in the field.
https://www.nicabm.com/