Meg's Story: Body Image and Self-Esteem
The heart of what we do at Golddigger Trust is all about ‘digging out the gold’ within young people, helping them to realise their worth and potential when they’re struggling to see it for themselves. Meg is one of the brilliant young people who come to Golddigger Trust, and we’ve loved spending time with her over the last two years as she has seen this transformative change happen within her own life.
As a teenager, Meg found herself really struggling with low self-esteem and body image issues. These struggles had deep roots and began to permeate every aspect of her life, leading to negative thoughts and beliefs that affected her day-to-day life.
“At one point I really believed I was the worst person on this planet.”
At 16 years old, Meg visited her GP after finding she still needed more help after finishing working with CAMHS, and was signposted to Golddigger Trust for ongoing support. At this time, the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, and so Meg joined our Sisu course online in summer 2020. Sisu is a 5-session group course all about managing difficult emotions and understanding yourself better - Meg explained that this was the first step towards real change, and started to help her develop coping strategies to manage negative thoughts.
To build on the work during Sisu, Meg also completed a series of Body Image Workshops, and a series of Stretch and Reflect sessions which involved gentle stretches, journaling and reflecting on body image. Meg then began a mentorship journey with Wellbeing Team member Kate.
“It was helpful to have someone to come and speak to if something was wrong, without putting it all on your family or friends.”
Our one-to-one mentoring programme, Aurous, is goal-focused and helps young people to make positive steps forward and see change in a specific area. For Meg, she and Kate worked on acknowledging negative thoughts - working through them rather than pushing them down where they can cause more anxiety. Meg and Kate have been meeting since October 2020, and in that time Meg has seen amazing changes in her self-esteem, body image and confidence.
“I’m more confident now, I’m able to speak to people more, step out of my comfort zone, and even do things like buy clothes I never would have worn before.”
Reflecting on the main change since coming to Golddigger Trust, Meg has noticed that she’s had a change in her thought process. Whereas before she would accept negative thoughts, now she is able to recognise and question them herself. She explains, “Now, instead of thinking the worst about myself, I’m able to say ‘why do I think that? Why do I think I’m lesser? Other people like this about me, so why don’t I?’ I used to convince myself I was the worst, but now I question that thought when it comes into my head”. Kate, Meg’s Golddigger Trust mentor, has seen her grow in these areas during their journey together:
“I am so proud of Meg and all the changes she has worked so hard to make over the last couple of years. When I first met Meg, her body image and self-esteem were so low but she has worked hard over time to challenge the societal pressures around her and truly begin to see the amazing young woman she is. I am so excited about Meg’s future. She is such a leader and influencer and I can’t wait to see how she will continue to build up and support other young women around her to realise their amazing value and worth.”
Now 18 years old, Meg is looking towards the future and is excited to be applying to university soon where she plans to study Psychology. When asked what advice she would give other young people in the same situation she was at 16 years old, Meg stressed the importance of seeking help:
“I would say to them: As much as it’s hard right now, you need to see it through. Focus on improving yourself. Don’t let yourself sit in that situation of self-hatred, go and get help, go and speak to people. Start to slowly push yourself out of your comfort zone more, and as you do that with the little things the big things get easier too.”
We’re so pleased to have been able to help Meg get to where she is now, and so proud of all the changes she’s worked really hard to achieve! Thanks to our amazing supporters and funders, we’re able to provide support to young people like Meg for as long as they need us, in order to make a tangible difference in their lives. Could you give a gift today to help a young person realise their true value and worth?