For many of my clients, self-doubt doesn’t always come through dramatic breakdowns or obvious anxiety. It shows up more quietly—in the form of constant reassurance-seeking, mental spiraling after conversations, or needing someone else to validate every decision before it feels real.

They don’t say “I don’t trust myself” in so many words.
But their nervous systems are carrying that message loud and clear.

And here’s what I want you to know: this kind of self-questioning isn’t a personal failure. It’s often a natural, protective adaptation to earlier environments where your inner signals were ignored, minimized, or punished.

Do you ever feel like you’re too sensitive, too intense, too emotional—like your presence somehow takes up more space than it should? Or maybe, on the flip side, you constantly feel not enough—not accomplished enough, not confident enough, not lovable enough.

If you find yourself bouncing between these two extremes, you're not alone. Many of my therapy clients—especially those with a history of relational trauma, perfectionism, or feeling misunderstood in childhood—describe living in this painful tug-of-war.