LONDON: Shakira has regular sessions with a therapist to deal with her body issues because she's always had very low self-esteem.

Shakira has therapy to deal with her body issues.

The sexy singer - who wore a revealing nude-effect leotard in her 'She Wolf' music video - has poor self-esteem regarding her figure and she started going to see a therapist in 2001 to overcome her negative feelings.

She said: "It helped me so much with every aspect of my life, from body image to relationships. My therapist told me why I behaved in certain ways and not to feel so pressured. It's incredibly liberating to spend an hour talking to someone and not caring about what you sound like. It's about understanding myself. Sometimes I'll speak to my therapist for an hour a day. It's become part of my routine."

The Colombian-born beauty says therapy helps her on the inside, but it takes a lot of hard work at the gym to give her the figure, which is the envy of women all over the world.

She told Fabulous magazine: "All through my 20s I spent more time worrying about what I didn't have than thinking about what I did have. I wished I was taller, had longer legs, slimmer hips, a smaller bottom, even straighter hair. I'm just like all women - we're born to criticise ourselves.

"I've worked my butt off to look like this. I've achieved the body I have now through hard work and careful eating. I've worked out every day, either running, doing gym work or dancing.

Nowadays, the 33-year-old pop star looks at just her body shape, and not the bathroom scales.

She said: "I haven't been on the scales for a year but I know I've made my body leaner, trimming my hips and bottom."