The following course in Self-esteem and human relationships is provided in its entirety by Atlantic International University’s “Open Access Initiative” which strives to make knowledge and education readily available to those seeking advancement regardless of their socio-economic situation, location or other previously limiting factors. The University’s Open Coursesare free and do not require any purchase or registration, they are open to the public.

The course in Self-esteem and human relationships Learning contains the following:

• Lessons in video format with explaination of theoratical content.
• Complementary activities that will make research more about the topic , as well as put into practice what you studied in the lesson. These activities are not part of their final evaluation.
• Texts supporting explained in the video.
• Evaluation questionnaire, that will grant access to the next lesson after approval.

The Administrative Staff may be part of a degree program paying up to three college credits. The lessons of the course can be taken on line Through distance learning. The content and access are open to the public according to the “Open Access” and ” Open Access ” Atlantic International University initiative. Participants who wish to receive credit and / or term certificate , must register as students.

Lesson 1: INTRODUCTION

We humans appear to be equipped with a set of predictable responses to situations. We call these the basic emotions: anger, fear, surprise, disgust, joy and sadness, as described in the 1970s. Over time, this list of basic emotions has been added to, subtracted from and reshaped based on the idea that human emotions are universal. This notion suggests that for any given situation, like being hit in the nose, any individual in any culture would experience something like anger. This view of emotions as largely objective is widely accepted, although there is an emerging school of thought that believes emotions to be far more subjective.  Rather than six or 11 basic emotions, there is an emotion for every possible human experience.  Under almost every explanation of emotions is the premise that they’re a naturally occurring response to a situation. Whether this response is the result of our own evaluation or an automatic one remains to be seen. In the field of psychology, the view of the nature of emotions can be divided into two camps.  Emotions are either the result of a judgment of any current situation or a perception of changes taking place within our bodies.  In other words, when we experience disgust, it could be the result of a judgment about how we feel when we see vomit. Under the other view, we experience disgust because our body undergoes physiological changes like queasiness and increased skin temperature at the sight of vomit.

Lesson 2: THEORIES

French philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau challenged the preexisting child depravity theory, a Puritan concept that held that children were born evil, tainted with original sin, and therefore must be harshly disciplined and factually educated.  Rousseau’s principal contribution to education was the 1762 novel Emile, and it influenced many later educational pioneers.  Have we reverted back to the child depravity theory?  It doesn’t seem so, as child-centered progressive education continues to grow.  Its slow development may owe something to the reluctance for child-depravity theorists to abolish their belief that children are “bad”.  The theory that Rousseau primarily attached in his philosophy of education was that of child depravity.  This theory stated that children are born with a tendency to evil, and are naturally, therefore, inclined to misbehave.  The only way to combat this is to instill authoritarian teachers that rule their classroom with an iron fist.  Rousseau was certainly not the first to attach this theory, but he was one of the greatest champions of anti-child depravity.  Child depravity was a Puritan concept, and play was looked upon as idleness and their talk as nonsensical.  This theory shaped education in the northern states of the U.S., over a hundred years before Rousseau wrote Emile, and it remained powerful in the northern U.S. for almost two centuries afterward.

Lesson 3: ORIGIN OF SELF-ESTEEM

The term self-concept is a set of personal beliefs a person has about who they are as an individual. These include salient personal characteristics as well as ethnic or professional awareness and any other desires or future goals that resonate strongly within the individual.  In order to have a healthy and balanced self-concept, one needs to have positive self-esteem. Self-esteem does not only include one’s characteristics, strengths and flaws, but it makes a judgment on each of those by putting value on them. It is an evaluation one makes of oneself. People with high self-esteem have not only a clear sense of their personal qualities, but also value them in a positive manner and use self-enhancing strategies.  They think well of themselves, set appropriate goals about the future and feel confident about coping with different and difficult situations. Low self-esteem may contribute to having unrealistic goals or shying away from potential opportunities due to a negative image of the self.

Lesson 4: HUMAN RELATIONS

Harry Stack Sullivan was trained in psychoanalysis in the United States, but soon drifted from the specific psychoanalytic beliefs while retaining much of the core concepts of Freud.  Interestingly, Sullivan placed a lot of focus on both the social aspects of personality and cognitive representations.  This moved him away from Freud’s psychosexual development and toward a more eclectic approach. Freud believed that anxiety was an important aspect in his theory because it represented internal conflict between the id and the superego.  Sullivan, however, saw anxiety as existing only as a result of social interactions.  He described techniques, much like defense mechanisms, that provide tools for people to use in order to reduce social anxiety.  Selective Inattention is one such mechanism. According to Sullivan, mothers show their anxiety about child rearing to their children through various means.  The child, having no way to deal with this, feels the anxiety himself.  Selective inattention is soon learned, and the child begins to ignore or reject the anxiety or any interaction that could produce these uncomfortable feelings.  As adults, we use this technique to focus our minds away from stressful situations.

Lesson 5: THE CONCEPT OF POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM

Self-confidence comes with the feeling that you are in control, that you are above the fray and that no one can hurt you physically or emotionally. It’s a state of mind that some people enjoy on an almost constant basis while, for others, it may only be felt on very rare occasions. The lack of self-confidence can be debilitating to the point of ruining a person’s life. In the worst-case scenarios, professional help is needed but in most cases self-improvement techniques are enough to solve the problem. The first thing that a person in search of more self-confidence should understand is that a lack of confidence is not some innate trait. We were all born with a clean slate. At birth, self-confidence was not an issue. Self-confidence is a construct that is formed through living experiences, something that starts in our earlier years and evolves one way or another ever since.

Lesson 6: THE SELF-ESTEEM GAP

A basic need of all people is that of believing that they are lovable and knowing that they are loved. When people have low self-esteem, however, they are anxiously unsure of themselves and likely even question if they are lovable. One of the main ways people try to find an answer to this question is to look to others, hyper vigilantly watching others’ behaviors, listening to their words and tone of voice, mentally recording the ways that person acts toward them, even keeping score of what they think works and doesn’t work.  Of course, all too often what they conclude is not accurate.

Lesson 7: EMOTIONAL DEPENDENTY

Most of the time, the body processes the chemical changes associated with emotions satisfactorily, enabling us to “let go” of any psychological or physical effects of the emotion.  Sometimes, however, emotional response patterns can unconsciously become “stuck” in the body, especially if you are overwhelmed by the incident or experiencing a physical deficiency at the time. In such a case, we are unable to process that particular feeling and become stuck with an emotional response that is doomed to repeat itself.  This stuck emotion creates a mind-body loop, in which an undesirable feeling, belief or situation triggers an emotion that in turn creates stress and perhaps physical ramifications, as well.  This is our human conditioned response often called unresolved feelings/emotions.  Unresolved feelings are generally negative and that’s why they need resolving.  They are feelings that you either ignore and repress or have not had a chance to express. 

Lesson 8: CONSEQUENCES OF AN IMPOVERISHED SELF-ESTEEM

False self-esteem comes from people who build up their little egos based on their surface self. They only see themselves as their physical appearance, their personal story, bank account and even their past conquests. They never allow themselves to get close to anyone and make up an excuse when things heat up in a relationship.  Inflated self-worth gives them a false impression of both their worth and abilities.  It is thought that it can help to present a false picture of use to the world and the people around them.  Whether this is by choice or not the repercussions can be the same, though the resolution may well be different.

Lesson 9: SELF-ESTEEM AND ADHD

The symptoms of ADHD usually appear in early childhood, but symptoms are often confused with other disorders or mistaken for normal childhood behaviors. In order for a child to receive appropriate intervention and treatment, it is important that a diagnosis is made by a well-qualified mental health professional.  ADHD symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsiveness tend to appear before inattentiveness. In many cases, symptoms only become apparent in specific situations. For example, a parent might not notice inattentive behavior because it does not cause major problems at home. However, inattentiveness will become more apparent when the child enters school and experiences academic difficulties due to inattentive behavior.

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Lesson 10: PANEL AND GROUP INTERVIEWS

A healthy sense of self can make a profound difference in how we feel and function. Self-esteem is our basic sense of worth or value. It is the degree to which we find we respect and like ourselves. Good self-esteem means self-respect, a sense of self-worth, a feeling of basic goodness about oneself. Low self-esteem can mean constant self-doubt and self-criticism, social anxiety and isolation, suppressed anger, loneliness, and even shame. Our self-esteem develops during childhood, and certain experiences may interfere with its development, for example: being subject to criticism or abuse from parents and caretakers; having early conflicts with peers; being stigmatized for unusual appearance or behaviors, or for one’s race, class, or social identity; missing out on experiences that would foster a sense of confidence and purpose, or not receiving positive reinforcement for our accomplishments; a learning disability or physical impairment. Low self-esteem is a problem that affects many people, particularly adolescents and young adults, and it can have a seriously deleterious effect on one’s day-to-day life. An individual with low self-esteem is prone to criticize himself heavily, fear mistakes, feel guilty for no reason, and be overly defensive without cause. While it is very difficult to overcome these problems, there are a variety of ways that one can learn to feel better about oneself through self-help techniques. Self-help for low self-esteem primarily involves developing a greater awareness of behaviors that contribute to low self-esteem in order to avoid them and to try to change them. Furthermore, self-help for low self-esteem can, in some cases, simply involve focusing on living a healthy and active lifestyle.

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