Stop Reinforcing Shame with this Body Posture
Shame can be harder to shake than fear because we attach meaning to shame. Our bodies use shame as a survival response by keeping us from acting in ways that would alienate us from others or get us exiled from the group.
- Feeling shame about experiencing physical responses, which creates a 'vicious circle' of shame
- Judging ourselves for these experiences, asking, "What does this say about me?"
- Reinforcing other trauma-related schemas such as, "It's not safe to succeed...to be self-assertive...to have needs...to be happy."
How can you help your patients break these automatic shame responses?
One way to do this is by combating shame through the body. Watch as Janina Fisher, Ph.D., shows you how to stop reinforcing shame with body posture.
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Janina Fisher, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and former instructor at The Trauma Center, a research and treatment center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known as an expert on the treatment of trauma, Dr. Fisher has also been treating individuals, couples, and families since 1980.
She is past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, Assistant Educational Director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of the neurobiological research and newer trauma treatment paradigms into traditional therapeutic modalities.
She is co-author with Pat Ogden of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Attachment and Trauma (2015) and author of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation (2017) and the forthcoming book, Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma (in press).
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Janina Fisher is an international expert and consultant on Trauma and Dissociation. She is a consultant for Khiron House Clinics and the Massachusetts Department of MH Restraint and Seclusion Initiative. Dr. Fisher receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording royalties and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. Dr. Fisher has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Janina Fisher is on the advisory board for the Trauma Research Foundation. She is a patron of the Bowlby Center.
