[prirun]

Find a good therapist / counselor, which may take more than one attempt. The first counselor I had, for maybe 3 sessions, was terrible. The 4th session was with his boss, she asked me how it was going, I said I didn't really click with the guy, and she took over my case. She was great.

It's well worth it to learn how to accept and like yourself. After all, the one person you can count on having the rest of your life, is you! Good luck!

[temende]

What do you recommend as a good alternative for people who can't afford therapy?

[prirun]

There are places that have fees based on income, or their used to be when I was in counseling. The place I went had that, I think mostly for drug and alcohol abuse, but maybe just for everyday counseling too. I wasn't using it so don't know much about it, but it is/was a thing.