Reviews for The psychology of shame

The average rating for The psychology of shame based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-09-10 00:00:00 Carl Anderson I found the first part of this book, with its summaries of Silvan Tompkins' theories about shame, interesting but not all that new or useful to me (as a person and as a therapist). The affect of shame is central to identity development: check. Shame is a wound inflicted from within: check. Shame is the source of narcissistic injuries: check. Shame is activated when your hopes/expectations for a significant other or for yourself are suddenly thwarted or exposed as wrong: check. The second half, about treating shame-related problems, was more useful to me. Therapy as reparenting, etc. I liked the author's assertion that psychoanalytic theory is really just one of many "linguistic systems" used to describe our inner experiences. It has its own vocabulary, its own strengths and limitations. Nice.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-05-12 00:00:00 Jason Malphus A must read for therapists, shame underlies a vast number of psychological issues. Fascinating ideas, kind of shook up my own concept of how to be in session with clients.