---
title: "Self-Esteem Therapy Online in California | Sharon Meyers, LCSW"
description: "Online therapy in California for low self-esteem. Work on the inner critic in someone else's voice, achievement that never converts to adequacy, and worth beyond output."
lang: en
json-ld: |
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "ProfessionalService",
    "@id": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com/#practice",
    "name": "Sharon Meyers Therapy",
    "description": "Holistic online individual therapy for adults throughout California, with an office in Berkeley.",
    "url": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com",
    "telephone": "(415) 335-7446",
    "email": "sharon@sharonmeyerstherapy.com",
    "priceRange": "$$",
    "address": {
      "@type": "PostalAddress",
      "addressLocality": "Berkeley",
      "addressRegion": "CA",
      "addressCountry": "US"
    },
    "areaServed": {
      "@type": "State",
      "name": "California"
    },
    "availableLanguage": "English",
    "founder": {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Sharon Meyers",
      "honorificSuffix": "LCSW",
      "identifier": "LCSW #106887",
      "jobTitle": "Licensed Clinical Social Worker",
      "url": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com/about"
    },
    "employee": {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Sharon Meyers",
      "honorificSuffix": "LCSW",
      "identifier": "LCSW #106887",
      "jobTitle": "Licensed Clinical Social Worker"
    },
    "availableService": [
      {
        "@type": "Service",
        "name": "Grief and Loss Counseling",
        "url": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com/specialties/grief-loss"
      },
      {
        "@type": "Service",
        "name": "Narcissistic Abuse Recovery",
        "url": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com/specialties/narcissistic-abuse-relationship-trauma"
      },
      {
        "@type": "Service",
        "name": "Relationship Issues, Separation & Divorce",
        "url": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com/specialties/separation-divorce-new-beginnings"
      },
      {
        "@type": "Service",
        "name": "Pregnancy, Postpartum and Parenting Challenges",
        "url": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com/specialties/parenting-pregnancy-adoption"
      }
    ],
    "serviceType": "Online individual psychotherapy",
    "availableChannel": {
      "@type": "ServiceChannel",
      "serviceUrl": "https://sharonmeyerstherapy.com/begin-here",
      "availableLanguage": "English",
      "serviceLocation": {
        "@type": "VirtualLocation",
        "name": "Online therapy throughout California"
      }
    }
  }
---

[Now accepting new clients.  Book your free consultation today → ](/work-with-me)

[![Sharon Meyers Therapy logo](/assets/logo-sanddollar-B1yhAvCA.png)Sharon Meyers Therapy LCSW #106887 ](/)

[Home](/)[About](/about)

Specialties

[FAQ](/faq)[Blog](/blog)[Contact](/begin-here)

![A smooth stone resting steady on a piece of driftwood at the shore](/assets/self-esteem--dXhRzxZ.jpg)

Therapy for

# Self-Esteem 

You can list your accomplishments and feel none of them. Compliments slide off. Criticism, even imagined criticism, goes straight to the bone and lives there for days.

Low self-esteem is rarely a mystery to the person who has it. It feels like simply knowing the truth about yourself. It is not the truth. It is a conclusion you reached a long time ago and have been confirming ever since.

## The Critic in Someone Else's Voice 

Listen closely to your inner critic and you will usually hear an accent. A parent's impatience. A coach's contempt. A sibling's mockery. The voice feels like your own thoughts, but it has an author.

That matters because a voice that was installed can be examined. In therapy we get specific: whose standard is this, when did you adopt it, and what was it protecting you from back then.

Most people find the critic was originally a strategy, a way to correct themselves before someone else could do it worse. Understanding that does not silence it, but it changes the relationship from obedience to negotiation.

## Achievement That Never Converts 

You may have tried to earn your way to feeling adequate, and noticed the strange arithmetic: every success resets to zero within days, while every mistake is permanent.

That is because achievement cannot fix self-esteem. The belief sits underneath the scoreboard. You can win and attribute it to luck, timing, or low standards, and the verdict on you stays unchanged.

This is why we do not chase more accomplishments in here. We work at the level of the verdict itself.

## Worth That Does Not Depend on Output 

The alternative to performing your way to adequacy is building a sense of worth that is not for sale. That sounds abstract, so we make it concrete: what do you value, and do you treat yourself the way you treat people you love.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps you notice the critical thoughts without organizing your life around them, and to act from what matters to you even on days the verdict is loud.

The critic rarely disappears entirely. What changes is that it becomes weather instead of law.

## Related Reading

-   [Imposter Syndrome Read more → ](/therapy-for/imposter-syndrome)
-   [Perfectionism Read more → ](/therapy-for/perfectionism)
-   [Emotionally Immature Parents Read more → ](/therapy-for/emotionally-immature-parents)

Sharon Meyers is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker offering telehealth sessions to adults located anywhere in California.

In Case of Emergency

This website is for informational purposes only. This practice is not a crisis service. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please do not wait for a reply.

-   Call [911](tel:911) or go to your nearest emergency room if you are in immediate danger.
-   Call or text [988](tel:988) to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
-   Text HOME to [741741](sms:741741) to reach the Crisis Text Line.

## The conclusion you reached about yourself deserves cross-examination. 

Schedule a free consultation to start.

[Schedule a Free Consultation](/begin-here)

### Sharon Meyers Therapy

LCSW #106887  
Online therapy throughout California  
Office located in Berkeley, CA

Quick Links

-   [Home](/)
-   [About](/about)
-   [Specialties](/specialties)
-   [FAQ](/faq)
-   [Blog](/blog)
-   [Contact](/begin-here)
-   [Therapy For](/therapy-for)
-   [Online Therapy](/online-therapy)
-   [Guides](/guides)

Contact

-   [(415) 335-7446](tel:4153357446)
-   [sharon@sharonmeyerstherapy.com](mailto:sharon@sharonmeyerstherapy.com)

[Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/sharon-meyers-berkeley-ca/1080260)

**In case of emergency:** call or text [988](tel:988) or go to your nearest emergency room. This website is for informational purposes only.

[Privacy Policy](/privacy)· [Good Faith Estimate](/good-faith-estimate)· [Notice to Clients](/notice-to-clients)

© 2026 Sharon Meyers Therapy · LCSW #106887