“R-E-S-P-E-C-T…Tell you what it means to me…”
40 years ago, Aretha Franklin had a huge hit singing about R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Everybody’s heard the song. “All I need…All I’m askin’ is for a little respect…” Aretha knew how important respect is. Self-respect is an essential ingredient in any kind of success - personal, social, academic, athletic, career, professional…everything! The good news is that self-respect is something you are in charge of.
When we are babies, everyone starts out with a healthy dose of self-respect. But it isn’t long before self-respect starts to shrink. Wanting to perform as well as possible, children start comparing themselves to their siblings and schoolmates and media idols… they start to wonder about all the ways they may not measure up. Even when respected by others, self-respect often becomes replaced by self-consciousness, defensiveness, maybe even not liking oneself.
What to do?
So what can you do? Well, at CIP, we believe in you – and in your ability to reclaim that self-respect of yours.
As a therapist, I believe this is one of the strong supports that therapy provides. Therapy can help us find - and strengthen - our self-respect. Self-respect begins with knowing who we are, accepting ourselves for who we are. And it also means treating ourselves with both honesty and kindness – challenging ourselves kindly, not critically.
And when we respect ourselves, we are more in control of our own well-being. This may sound like a major makeover for some of us, but the sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll start to feel different... with a little more R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
About the Author
Charles D. Houff is the Head Therapist at CIP Berkshire. He has over 25 years of experience as a therapist and Clinical Director in residential programs, providing individual and group therapy for adolescents and young adults with learning disabilities and emotional difficulties.
