ODW 2023 Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame with Kathy Steele

This webinar led by Kathy Steele, MN, CS, APRN, was originally broadcast live on Wednesday, October 3, and Thursday, October 4, 2023.

This is a 6-hour On-Demand Webinar. Access information, handouts/resources, and CE credits information will be available immediately after successful registration. All registrants receive unlimited access to the recording for 365 days.

Chronic shame significantly impedes individuals from fully engaging with their lived experiences. Its elusive nature makes it challenging to acknowledge and address. Like traumatic memories, shameful memories resurface with symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, and arousal, requiring careful navigation within the client’s window of tolerance.

In therapy, chronic shame silently erects barriers that hinder progress, leaving therapists feeling ill-equipped to effectively address its pervasive, embedded, alienating, and disconnecting effects. Merely discussing shame often proves to be an insufficient strategy.

In this professional continuing education workshop, we will explore the multifaceted functions of chronic shame. We’ll also look at how it cunningly disguises itself beneath other symptoms and problems. And we will dissect the typical defences that obstruct an individual’s ability to be present with themselves and others in the face of shame.

Through an integrated approach encompassing cognitive, emotional, relational, and somatic interventions, participants of this workshop will gain practical tools to skillfully address chronic shame. We will explore specific “antidotes” to shame that empower clients to break free from its grip. Additionally, we will focus on fostering resilience in both clients and therapists, equipping them with techniques to navigate and transcend shame reactions.

Central to this workshop is the examination of shame, both in our clients and within ourselves, approached with curiosity and compassion. We will examine ways to create a secure relational space where deep attunement and repair of chronic shame can occur.

Join us for this transformative workshop where you will acquire invaluable expertise to support clients in overcoming chronic shame. Together, we will forge a path toward lasting healing, personal growth, and empowerment.

• List the differences between acute shame, adaptive shame and chronic shame and describe the many protective functions of shame.
• Employ at least three cognitive, three emotional, and three somatic interventions to diminish chronic shame.
• Identify the four poles of the Compass of Shame
• Name the major antidotes to shame and how to facilitate them in therapy
• Employ at least three approaches to support a client to talk about shame without being overwhelmed.
• List at least three ways to support the development of shame resilience.

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Part 2: