ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the role of shame, its development in infancy and the potential for repair through the therapeutic relationship. Shame is a relational wounding which particularly impacts the therapeutic work. Shame can be a block to progression, particularly affecting the client's ability to identify and articulate their needs. Shame is a normal human emotion and can be healthy, when the infant experiences his own limits, or can be experienced as toxic: Shame as a healthy human emotion can be transformed into shame as a state of being. Relational shame is of significance when working with regression to dependence because as clients regress within the therapeutic relationship they re-experience their vulnerability and dependence on the other. Metaphor is frequently used as a therapeutic intervention. Metaphor allows the therapeutic interaction to move into the third person and out of the here-and-now relationship with the therapist.
