“Be kind to yourself!” and “self compassion” are phrases that we all have heard. I think we all know that we need to do this.
My former therapist told me “love myself as I love others” or something like that. Many of us treat ourselves with less compassion than we ever would a friend or loved one. Hence one trick is to talk to yourself in the way that you would with a friend. I modified this trick and started doing “fake therapy.” I start out as the client and write my thoughts out. Then, I shift over to being the therapist and write out how I’d respond to the client. I find that this activity helps me to shift from inside myself to what I’d be more likely to say to a friend or client.
How do you treat yourself as a friend?
Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better. Flannery O’Connor