Shame and pride as emotional processes and traumatic, mind/body states are frequently seen in survivors of relational trauma (RT), that includes abuse, neglect, and attachment wounds. Both shame and pride as emotions have adaptive and maladaptive forms. Shame and pride as emotional processes are not the same as traumatic, shame and pride mind/body states, or shame states and pride states, for short. While shame and pride as emotions are acute or short-lived, and fully embodied, shame and pride states are chronic or recurrent, and reflect different degrees of dissociation, from a dissociative part of self preoccupied with shame or pride (i.e., “not me shame” or “not me pride”), to one’s entire being taken over by shame and pride states (i.e., “no me shame” and “no me pride”). Shame and pride states are most commonly observed and challenging to work with in psychotherapy with RT survivors.
This goals of this workshop include:
1) Differentiating shame and pride as emotional processes from shame and pride as traumatic, mind/body states.
2) Describing several aspects of the relationship between shame, pride, “dissociation as process” [i.e., “mind body leave taking (LT)], and “dissociation as structure” [i.e., structural dissociation (SD)], from a psychodynamic and phenomenological perspective.
3) Describing some ways shame and pride states manifest in psychotherapy with RT survivors.
4) Using excerpts of several transcribed psychotherapy sessions with an adult, RT survivor, demonstrating therapeutic movement from a shame state, toward greater integration (i.e., “association”), to pro-being pride (i.e., delight-in-being one’s unique, authentic self in relation to self, others, and the world).
Participants will be afforded several opportunities to discuss how these concepts and observations can benefit their psychotherapy with RT survivors.