One of the ways of working with self-defeating behaviours is replacing the behaviours with personality strengths. This involves the utilisation of strength-based orientations. An expert assessed the personality of an individual's strengths (Hofmann and Otto, 2017). The unique strengths of an individual's personality can help in working with self-defeating behaviours and give a person a healthier life.

Secondly, talking therapy can help in addressing self-defeating behaviours. talking therapy assists patients to examine thoughts that impact their self-defeating behaviours. In this context, cognitive behaviour therapies focus on changing self-defeating behaviours and associated cognitive distortion. Therapies such as the CBT approach is designed to improve the thinking approach of people and their acts (Hofmann and Otto, 2017).

One can override self-defeating behaviours by being selfless. When we are full of ourselves, we are more likely to fall victim to this kind of behaviour in society. Self-defeating behaviours will make an individual become so much of themselves and will always want to feel great whenever they do something in the society or community set up. By resisting the need to be filled by our ego, we become so much selfless and will do something out of empathy or the legal aspect of it rather than to use it as a ladder of being a big wig in the society. We become great by others, making us known for the right things which one does for the society and not by our ego, which intends to make others give it to us out of compulsion.

One can also deal with self-defeating behaviours by trying to reflect who they can be without the fear that is overriding their lives daily. When doubt fills our lives, we become so vulnerable to self-defeating behaviours in society. Getting to the right basis of the matter can help us so much. One should try and get to know who they are likely to be and the challenges that they are likely to face to check on the fears they have. Some of these fears are just because it is reasonable to fear change, and we all have the behaviour to fear change. Getting to know who we will be without any doubt will help in building us in the best ways possible and lay with the right form of ourselves rather than suffering self-defeats.

The use of empathy in the elimination of self-defeating behaviours is critical (SDBs), as it aids in the identification of how they adversely impact the client’s life. This increases the motivation of the therapist to develop strategies that would lead to the adaptation of patterns that contribute to behavioural change (Curtis, 2013). The therapist is also able to determine the unmet needs of the client and they could begin a deliberate process to address the needs. Additionally, empathy aids in understanding the source of the client’s SDBs to identify the underlying needs in relation to their emotions, thought, and beliefs. The use of client empowerment by the therapist would also aid in emphasising the need for clients to address their own barriers towards defeating SDBs (Curtis, 2013). This entails giving them the responsibility to determine their self-worth, self-esteem, and dignity, to increase their ability to maximise their functionality within the constraints of SDBs for their effective elimination. Moreover, offering continuous support to the client through out the SDBs elimination process aids in their ability to properly adhere to the stipulated techniques for recovery. Support would also encourage the client in the replacement of negative habits that cause SDBs, as they rebuild a healthy life.