Sheila Rubin, MA & Bret Lyon, PhD: Embracing Shame

Thoughts on Record: Podcast of the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Shame is among the most powerful of human emotions and can drive a number of both functional and dysfunctional behaviours. Sheila Rubin, MA & Bret Lyon, Ph.D., join us for a comprehensive discussion of many of the themes in their new book Embracing Shame - How to Stop Resisting Shame & Turn it into a Powerful Ally. In this discussion we cover:

• why they wanted to write this book
• a theoretically driven and evolutionarily informed definition of shame
• shame as a "binding" emotion that helps to de-intensify emotional reactions to stressors
• common reactions to shame (anger in, anger out, avoidance, withdrawal)
• healthy vs. unhealthy shame
• shame as potentially a developmental wound and how this manifests in adults
• working with clients who harbour shame but who are emotionally over-regulated
• diagnosing the impact of shame within interpersonal interactions

Sheila Rubin, MA, LMFT, RDT/BCT, and Bret Lyon, PhD, SEP, are co-creators of the Healing Shame–Lyon/Rubin Method and founders of The Center for Healing Shame. Through their in-person and popular online trainings, they have taught hundreds of psychotherapists throughout the world how to more effectively identify and work with shame. They live together in Berkeley, CA. For more, visit healingshame.com.