At a young age, children tend to have a high measure of self-esteem. At this stage, it is easy to notice when kids feel good about themselves- and when they don’t. As they grow older and enter their tween years, low self-esteem may often become an issue.
For a number of reasons, low self-esteem begins to appear during pre-adolescence. Comparison with others is one known cause as between the ages of 6 and 11 years, children start to compare themselves to their peers. Regardless of age, and throughout a child’s life it is important that self-esteem is modelled and supported. Children who feel good about themselves have the confidence to try new things. They are also proud of their achievements and can cope with mistakes which makes these children more resilient at school, at home, and with friends. To help your child achieve all these benefits, here are five apps for improving self-esteem. As with all apps aimed at helping us with our mental health these apps are not cure-alls but when combined with the guidance and support of a professional they can be great assists in your child’s life.
Build Confidence – $2.99 – All Devices – Age 4+
Build Confidence is an app developed to build self-esteem through guided meditation. The man behind the curtain for Build Confidence is Andrew Johnson, a specialist in relaxation and coping skills. The app makes you more aware of the positive and promising areas of your life, and in addition, you get to be relieved from stress and anxiety.
The app features short meditations you can do while at work, commuting, at home, and walking. There are also inspirational sessions to help you find clarity and tackle life’s challenges. The app is also packed with mindfulness stories and talks to aid you in building healthy habits. Using the app will definitely help you gain confidence, boost your self-belief, and learn to think positively.
Mindfit – Free – All devices – Age 4+
Are you willing to devote at least three weeks to build your self-confidence and esteem? Mindfit is a holistic program split into three parts.
First of all, take some time to describe yourself and note down what motivates you and what challenges you have. Secondly, you keep a diary of moods and ensure you note your little wins and positive feelings. Finally, you’ll be coached through a series of techniques and mini-challenges aimed at boosting confidence and improving your mastery of difficult situations, as well as your capacity to cede control over those you can’t.
According to the specialists behind the program, you need to devote at least three weeks to see any tangible or lasting result. What makes this app unique is the ease and variety that comes with the program, so logging in always feels new.
HelloMind– Free with in-app purchases – All devices – Age 4+
This app helps children to change negative thought patterns. Children with low self-esteem don’t get to enjoy the best version of their life. The good news is these patterns can be broken or eliminated. The developers created this app to help children make a change and feel stronger.
HelloMind is based on NLP (Natural language processing) analysis. Each therapy consists of ten audio sessions lasting 30 minutes each. Booster sessions for a treatment you’ve already completed are also available, as well as Quick Fix sessions, which are shorter in duration.
Cognitive Diary CBT Self-Help – Free – Android- Age 3+
Low self-esteem shows up in your child’s life like a barrier, a barrier that keeps them from achieving their full potential; helping your child bring down those barriers allows children with low self-esteem to live a life full of potential. The Cognitive Diary helps accomplish this by teaching users to establish specific triggers and thought patterns that lead to a negative state of mind. Once those underlying patterns are identified, it becomes easier to move forward.
The app is based on tools of cognitive-behavioral therapy and was developed by a licensed and practicing psychotherapist. In addition, the app has an ‘Articles’ section which provides some information on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a helpful tool for overcoming mental illness.
ThinkUp – Free – All Devices – Age 4+
ThinkUp is a self-care app that boosts your child’s self-esteem by motivating and instilling a good mindset through an improvement program. Several users have reported that the app helped them reinforce positive self-talk in their daily life and has had a significant effect on the overall quality of their life.
This app also provides supportive remarks and affirmations. To spice things up, the app allows you to customize affirmations from a professionally edited list or create your own, which is very powerful for users. The app uses a microphone allowing you to record affirmations in your voice. Then you need to repeat the day’s affirmations out loud and listen to the same set of affirmations for at least 21 days because repetition makes all the difference.
