Understanding and Working with Shame in Person-Centred Practice

Understanding and Working with Shame in Person-Centred Practice

Shame is everywhere – lurking in the shadows of human experience and relationships, and used as a tool for social and relational control. Shame often looks like something else however, and stays unrecognised or mis-recognised by both clients and therapists. Missing such crucial experiences is likely to reduce the effectiveness of therapy.

This workshop will help person-centred practitioners recognise and work with shame in the therapy room – both in their clients and themselves – and to understand it from a person-centred theoretical perspective. While consistently underpinned by theory, the day will emphasise and allow time to explore the unique, personal and profoundly impactful experience of shame.

The day will consider:

• What is the nature and existence of shame?

• How does shame manifest in everyday life and in the therapy room?

• Shame within the person-centred theoretical framework

• How does therapist shame get in the way of facilitating a therapeutic relationship based on the six conditions?

​

Helen Skelton is a person-centred psychotherapist and clinical supervisor and teaches on the MSc in Contemporary Person-Centred Psychotherapy at the Metanoia Institute in London. She is a passionate explorer of the person-centred approach and theory as a living practice, informing all relationships - personal, professional and with the self. She is also passionate about helping practitioners feel secure and articulate in expressing areas of their person-centred work. Her interest in shame comes from both personal and professional experience.