This is an addendum to Therapists’ Inadequacies.

1. global self-esteem is not a major predictor of anything with the exception of happiness (ii), [7]
2. low (global) self-esteem is an innate survival strategy that does not need treatment (xiv), [4, 8.1, 38]
3. low-mood or subordinated states are often conflated with low (global) self-esteem (xv), [16, 17]
4. targeting self-efficacy to raise self-esteem before relational value needs are met is inexplicable (vii)
5. self-esteem has three dimensions: self-acceptance, social-acceptance, status and rank
6. self-acceptance shows independence from other dimensions yet evaluative criteria not arbitrary (v)
7. social acceptance, status and rank are more important to our well-being (ii) than self-acceptance [16, 31]
8. submissiveness, i.e., a readiness to submit or ingratiate is not a learned response but involuntary [16]
9. telling a subordinate to use boundaries and practice assertiveness is hardly a strategy [16]
10. depression and social anxiety are situational phenomena in which some are predisposed (xi), [16]
11. codependency as a syndrome is over-treated and often times assumed rather than diagnosed (vi), [13.1, 29]
12. as CBT is practiced today symptoms are treated but causes are rarely entertained (vi, viii), [2, 16]
13. CBT can undermine the role of our intuition and may have unintended consequences (vi), [2, 16]

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Notes

ii) happiness is about fulfillment and satisfaction and wellbeing is about contentment but includes physiological health aspects

iii) global self-esteem is not state or specific self-esteem as it reflects the average feelings we have towards ourselves

iv) mood states are reflected in state self-esteem not global; global is a an aggregate and state is an instantaneous measurement

v) standards used to evaluate ourselves are not private because we imagine how our attributes come across to others

The attributes on which people’s self-esteem is based are precisely the characteristics that determine the degree to which people are valued and accepted by others (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). [28]

vi) sample size of n = 12 therapists and psychiatrists; claims are only for the treatment of depression and social anxiety

vii) it is a gross error to skip the interpersonal part to self-esteem in favor of self-efficacy as relational value needs come first [13]

viii) ones’ interpersonal status is primary; assessments on temperament, personality and attachment style to fine tune treatment

ix) as much disdain as many have towards evolutionary psychology, it provides a useful framework to view interpersonal problems

x) empirical support for the hierarchical arrangement of Maslow’s pyramid exists but self-actualizing is not a fundamental need [13]

xi) personality: neuroticism; temperament: inhibitedness; traits: high sensory-processing sensitivity, rejection sensitivity [38]

xii) dependency paradox says that once we belong and feel valued only then can we venture out with confidence and explorer [29]

xiii) we make self-comparisons to validate the outcome or process regardless if intrinsically or extrinsically motivated [14]

xiv) low self-esteem is defined here as trait self-esteem in its purest form in the absence of aversive social experiences

xv) low or subordinated states include negative automatic thoughts and schemas only in the presence of depressed affect; there is much empirical support for this view, see: (Haaga, Dyck, & Ernst, 1991; Hollon, DeRubeis, & Evans, 1987; Miranda & Persons, 1988; Miranda, Persons, & Byers, 1990; Segal & Ingram, 1994; Teasdale, 1983)

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