Shame-informed Counselling and Psychotherapy Eastern and Western Perspectives

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 One: Understanding Shame 1. Introduction 2. Hiddenness of Shame 3. Shame’s Dualistic Nature 4. Development Stages of Intensified Shame 5. My Own Struggles with Shame 6. Empirical Findings of My Study 7. Qualitative Findings of My Study 8. East-West Distinctives 9. Healthy Shame 10. Unhealthy Shame 11. Continuum of Shamefulness and Shamelessness Part Two: Addressing Shame 12. Going to the Roots 13. Connecting the Symptoms to Shame 14. Preparing for Shame-informed Psychotherapy 15. Application of Shame Memory Reframing 16. Other Antidotes to Unhealthy Shame 17. Therapist's Skills 18. Therapist's Shame 19. Countering Shamelessness Appendix

Edmund Ng, formerly a business CEO, has been a licensed counsellor, grief therapist and psychotherapist in private practice for the last 15 years. Besides his qualifications in the field of business, he has studied doctoral courses in practical theology, counselling and psychology. He is accredited as a Fellow in Thanatology. Edmund has earlier written a book entitled The TIME Approach to Grief Support (2011).