ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses clinical interventions targeting shame and self-criticism by focusing on how self-compassion can be adopted by people with acquired brain injury (ABI) and their close relatives. ABI survivors are considerably more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and they are at a higher risk of committing suicide than those in the general population. M. Stanley shame and guilt, resulting from his ABI, keep the couple in distress and they struggle with non-preferred identities. Shame and self-criticism are strongly related to identity (re)construction after ABI. However, shame aspects of ABI are not addressed as part of current neurorehabilitation. Research into the emotional experiences of ABI survivors has indicated that both internal and external shame and self-criticism form part of their emotional experience and are related to significant distress. The concepts and clinical application of Compassion Focused Therapy have yet to be explored in depth with people who have ABI.
