Tag: shame in psychotherapy
-
Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 6
Patients often enter psychotherapy hoping that shame can be removed completely. They may want to forget what happened, stop thinking about how they behaved or reach a point at which the memory no longer produces any emotional reaction.
-
Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 5
Shame is not only an experience that patients describe from outside psychotherapy. It frequently enters the treatment itself and begins influencing what the patient says, what remains unspoken and how the relationship with the psychotherapist develops. A patient may enter psychotherapy because they feel depressed, anxious, socially isolated or unable to sustain relationships. They may…
-
Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 4
Pathological shame does not affect people only when the emotion is fully present. In some patients, the fear that shame might return becomes almost as powerful and destructive as the shame itself. The person may remember how overwhelming the feeling was on an earlier occasion. They remember the sense of exposure, worthlessness or internal collapse…
-
Understanding Shame and Its Emotional Effects in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life – Part 3
Shame does not remain contained within one memory or one difficult situation. When it becomes established, it begins influencing how the person behaves, how they relate to others and what they believe they are capable of doing. The person may not always say that they feel ashamed. They may describe themselves as anxious, depressed, unmotivated,…