coming home to yourself
Self-Esteem Therapy at Mind & Body Healing Collective
If you have spent years shrinking, pleasing, or proving, you may have lost track of who you are underneath. Self-esteem therapy is a way back to that person, and to treating them kindly.
- ◦ In person in Lawrence, Overland Park or Topeka
- ◦ Telehealth across Kansas
- ◦ Most insurance accepted
approaches we use
- Internal Family Systems
- CBT
- Somatic Therapy
- Mindfulness-Based Therapy
- Art & Expressive Therapy
- Group Therapy
You might see yourself in these
- 01
You apologize reflexively, even when you did nothing wrong.
- 02
Compliments make you squirm, but criticism replays in your mind for days.
- 03
You say yes when you mean no, then resent how stretched thin you are.
- 04
Scrolling social media leaves you convinced everyone else is doing life better.
- 05
You rarely share opinions in meetings or groups for fear of sounding foolish.
- 06
Your accomplishments feel like luck, and you worry someone will discover you’re a fraud.
- 07
You know what everyone else needs but struggle to name a single thing you want.
Self-esteem therapy at Mind & Body Healing Collective, in Lawrence, Overland Park, Topeka, or by telehealth, is not about pep talks or pretending to feel confident. It is about understanding why the voice in your head became so harsh, and slowly building a relationship with yourself rooted in respect instead of constant evaluation. Healthy self-worth isn’t arrogance or perfection. It is the steady sense that you matter, even on days you fall short.
Low self-esteem often develops quietly. Maybe love felt conditional on grades, appearance, or keeping the peace. Maybe you were bullied, compared to a sibling, or grew up somewhere that who you were didn’t fit the mold. Over time, you learned to watch yourself from the outside, adjusting and editing to stay safe and accepted. Those strategies made sense then. They may simply be too small for the life you want now.
We help you notice those old adaptations with compassion, gently question the beliefs that came with them, and reconnect with the parts of you that got buried along the way. Our founder, Anissa Pfannenstiel, LSCSW, describes the heart of her work simply: “I help you wake up to yourself.” Therapy is where that waking up can happen gently, at a pace that respects everything you have been through to get here.
Meeting your inner critic
Most people with low self-esteem live with a relentless inner critic, a voice that comments on everything from how you look to how you spoke in a meeting. It can sound like a parent, a coach, a former partner, or a culture that told you what was acceptable. It often believes it is helping: if it criticizes you first, maybe no one else will, or maybe you will finally become good enough.
In therapy, we don’t try to silence the critic by force. We get to know it. Internal Family Systems offers a respectful way to understand what the critic fears and what it protects. Compassion-focused and mindfulness practices help you meet that voice with a steadier, kinder inner presence, so the critic no longer gets the final word. Many people notice the critic softening once it trusts it doesn’t have to work so hard.
People-pleasing, perfectionism, and the cost of hiding
People-pleasing and perfectionism are two common strategies for managing low self-worth. Both try to keep you safe by earning approval or dodging criticism, and both can work well enough on the surface that no one guesses how exhausted you are. Often they are rooted in a nervous system that learned early that disappointing others felt dangerous. The cost is often quiet resentment, burnout, and a sense of never being truly known.
Therapy helps you explore where these patterns began and how they show up now: at work, in relationships, with family, even with your therapist. You practice small acts of honesty, such as stating a preference, declining a request, or letting something be good enough, and notice that you survive the discomfort. Each of those moments builds evidence that you are allowed to take up space. Slowly, those moments add up to a different story about who you are.
- Setting and holding boundaries without guilt
- Body image and appearance-based shame
- Imposter feelings at school or work
- Rebuilding a sense of self after a controlling relationship
- Identity exploration, including gender and sexuality
- Speaking up and expressing needs with the people close to you
Self-esteem therapy that embraces your authentic self
At Mind & Body Healing Collective, authenticity isn’t a slogan; it is the center of the work. Rebuilding self-esteem often means rediscovering what you actually value, enjoy, and believe, apart from what you were told to want. For some people that includes exploring gender identity, sexuality, relationship structure, spirituality, or creative expression. Our team is LGBTQIA+ affirming, neurodivergent-affirming, and welcoming of ethical non-monogamy and diverse spiritual paths. Whatever you discover, you are welcome here as you are.
We also work with the body. Low self-worth is often felt physically: a collapsed posture, shallow breathing, a flinch when attention turns your way. Somatic practices help you notice and gently shift those patterns, so confidence becomes something you feel in your body, not just something you try to believe. At our Lawrence and Overland Park offices, somatic work and art and expressive therapies offer another path when words feel limiting, and movement and breath can become quiet allies in feeling worthy.
Can therapy actually improve self-esteem?
Yes, though usually not through affirmations alone. Self-esteem grows through experience: being accepted as you are by another person, trying new behaviors and seeing that the feared consequences don’t arrive, and healing the memories that shaped your self-image. A therapy relationship in which you are genuinely seen can itself be a powerful corrective experience. Your therapist may also help you notice and savor moments of competence and connection you would otherwise brush aside, so the evidence builds from the inside out.
Change tends to be gradual. Clients often notice first that the inner critic is a little quieter, or that they bounce back faster after a mistake. Later, they find themselves making choices that reflect what they want, speaking up more easily, and feeling a quiet sense of being enough. When low self-worth is linked to trauma, EMDR or Brainspotting can help loosen old beliefs at their source. These shifts tend to last because they are rooted in lived experience.
Self-worth support for students, adults, and elders
Self-esteem struggles show up at every stage of life. For KU, Washburn, and Johnson County college students and young adults, they may surface through comparison culture, dating, or uncertainty about career direction, and college-age support is one of our focus areas. In midlife, a divorce, career change, or empty nest can unsettle a sense of identity. In later life, retirement and health changes can raise new questions about worth and purpose. We have support for each of these seasons.
Children and teens are welcome too, since the beliefs we form about ourselves often take root early. Alongside individual therapy, many clients find that group therapy or our workshops offer something one-on-one sessions can’t: the experience of being accepted by a room full of people who are working on the same thing. Individual sessions take place at our offices in Lawrence, Overland Park, and Topeka, and telehealth works well for clients who prefer privacy at home.
what to expect
how we'll begin, together
- 1
Say hello
Send a call, text, or email our way. Taking time for yourself might feel uncomfortable at first, and that’s okay; it is part of what we’ll explore.
- 2
Share your story at your pace
In your first session, your therapist asks about the beliefs you hold about yourself, where they may have come from, and what you’d like to feel instead.
- 3
Choose your focus
Your plan might center on the inner critic, boundaries, body image, identity, or healing specific memories, often weaving together talk, somatic, and creative approaches.
- 4
Practice being you
Between sessions, you’ll experiment with small acts of authenticity and self-kindness, then reflect on what shifts, building a sense of worth that holds up in real life.
clinicians across the collective
people you might work with
self-esteem therapy near you
four offices, plus telehealth
Self-esteem therapy is available at our headquarters, 2619 W 6th St, Suites A & C, in west Lawrence; at 616 Kentucky St, a quiet house a few blocks from downtown Lawrence; at 10100 W 87th St, Suite 204, in Overland Park; and at 5020 SW 28th St, Suite 204, in Topeka. If starting from your own space feels easier, telehealth is offered across Kansas, Missouri, Washington, and Florida, depending on clinician licensure, and weekday appointments run from morning into the evening.
Mon–Fri · 8 AM–9 PM · (785) 615-1995
questions
self-esteem therapy, answered
Still wondering about something? Call (785) 615-1995 or send us a note.
How much does self-esteem therapy cost?
If you use insurance, we file the claim and you pay your plan’s copay, coinsurance, or deductible at each visit. We are in network with many plans, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, United, UMR, Ambetter, Luminare Health, Meritain, and KanCare. Self-pay intakes are $275, individual sessions range from $125 to $250 depending on length, and group sessions are $80, with a 40% prompt-pay discount for same-day payment.
Is low self-esteem a real reason to go to therapy?
Absolutely. You don’t need a diagnosis to seek support. Low self-worth affects nearly every part of life, from relationships and career decisions to how you rest and whether you pursue what you want. Addressing it directly can also ease the anxiety and depression that often grow alongside it.
What’s the difference between self-esteem and confidence?
Confidence usually refers to trust in your abilities in specific areas, like public speaking or your job. Self-esteem runs deeper: it is your overall sense of worth as a person. You can be confident at work and still feel fundamentally not enough. Therapy focuses on that deeper layer, which makes confidence in specific areas easier to build.
Can a self-esteem therapist help with people-pleasing?
Yes. People-pleasing is one of the most common patterns we work on. Therapy helps you understand why pleasing others once felt necessary, recognize when you are overriding your own needs, and practice setting boundaries in manageable steps. Many clients find their relationships become more honest and satisfying as a result.
Do you offer affirming care for LGBTQIA+ clients working on self-worth?
Yes. Our practice is LGBTQIA+ affirming, and gender identity and identity exploration are among our focus areas. For many queer and trans clients, self-esteem work includes healing from rejection or messages absorbed from family, faith communities, or the wider culture, and building a sense of self that feels true.
take the first step
you don't have to carry it alone.
Tell us a little about what's going on and we'll match you with a clinician who fits, in person or by telehealth. Most insurance accepted.