This post is brought to you by Heather Holly, MA, Clinical Intern:
This month is LGBT pride month, a month dedicated to celebrating and promoting equal rights and acceptance for all. Pride month means many things to many people, but one part of pride month is about encouraging people to be themselves and accept themselves regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Pride is a celebration of diversity and individuality. I believe that being yourself and accepting yourself is one of the biggest challenges we all face. We live in a world full of pressures to conform to certain pressures and expectations. Advertisements send the message that we need to buy and do all these things to be pretty enough, thin enough, to fit in, to be accepted. Often we internalize all these messages, and struggle to accept ourselves quirks, flaws, and all. This can lead to low self-esteem, poor self-image, or even anxiety and depression. This pride month I encourage all of you to find ways to celebrate diversity and to also celebrate yourself. We are all unique and valuable and deserve our own love and compassion.Here are some articles to help guide your journey to self-compassion and self-acceptance:
https://psychcentral.com/lib/therapists-spill-12-ways-to-accept-yourself/