Can a personal sense of self-worth prevent soul evolution?

In my opinion, yes. Your personal sense of self, whether it be a 'less than consciousness' as a human, or the belief of soul, the judgment will stand in the way of any true happiness, realization and freedom. Lives are destroyed because of abuse experienced beginning as a child. To understand what has happened to you or a friend is to understand why the feminine energy of the God equation has been thwarted in your evolution. Yang energy has taken over humanity for at least 7000 years.

Today, the male needs the nurturing comfort of the yin energy and many females need the empowerment that the male energy naturally has to offer. There is only One God but...the Supreme Being in matter-duality has two aspects that are constantly exerting themselves. Forget what gender you are and use the power at the moment you need. Abuse diminishes empowerment. If you were abused by your parents, the abuse more than likely has manifested over and over again through other people. Sometimes, it is so subtle that you do not realize that you are being held back.

Sometimes the abused will overcompensate in specific areas as such as the amount of food they eat, the material things they buy, wasting money and the sexual partners they cling to. Because they feel limited in their own nature, they place themselves in situations where it appears as if they are not worthy. They attract the undesirable. They will also use the excuse that it is not spiritual to respond to the abuser or to stand up for their rights. They will continue behaving as if everything is OK, not focusing only denying what is really destroying them on many levels. The abused lose their dignity and sense of self. The good and healing qualities of the spirit are denied because deep down within they feel betrayed. The typical attitude of one with a low sense of self worth is denial. They attempt to glide through life not paying attention to the fact that they have accepted being a target for abuse. One day the pain will be too much. The eyes will open. They clearly see what has been falsely created and realize that they are deserving and enough is enough. It is then that good change and soul evolution can continue.