ABSTRACT

Unhealthy or maladaptive shame is believed by many to be the root cause of a diverse range of mental health problems. If we want to offer a more reparative healing to people contending with these psychological issues, we must ultimately trace back and resolve their underlying shame. This book offers researchers practitioners and students a balance of theoretical and empirical evidence for a practical approach in shame-informed counselling and psychotherapy approach.

Drawing on empirical field study evidence on shame, and making references to both Western and Eastern literature on the subject, Ng advocates that shame-informed interventions be applied following or alongside the contemporary counselling modalities and protocols. Using his 15 years’ professional practice in the field, he offers a shame-informed counselling and psychotherapy approach which aims not merely to help the individual cope with or suppress the shame as commonly advocated in current literature, but also deals with its roots through the restructuring of core beliefs and early memories.

part Part I|68 pages

Understanding shame

chapter 1|8 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|8 pages

Hiddenness of shame

chapter 3|5 pages

Shame’s dualistic nature

chapter 5|5 pages

My own struggles with shame

chapter 8|6 pages

East-West distinctives

chapter 9|5 pages

Healthy shame

chapter 10|4 pages

Unhealthy shame

chapter 11|5 pages

Continuum of shame

part Part II|42 pages

Addressing shame