The Science of Shame and Its Treatment
Shame is the hidden force shaping the human mind, embedding itself in the psyche before a single word is spoken or a conscious thought is formed. In The Science of Shame and Its Treatment, psychotherapist and author Gerald Loren Fishkin, Ph.D., explores the origins of shame and self-talk, offering an empirical analysis of their core components, how shame infiltrates conscious thought, and the profound impact it has on self-worth and behavior.
Drawing from his extensive research on toxic shame, Dr. Fishkin presents multiple effective clinical approaches for treatment, highlighting why many contemporary methods—such as cognitive behavioral therapy—fail to address core shame wounds, often leading individuals to abandon therapy prematurely.
Essential reading for clinicians, addiction specialists, educators, students of human behavior, counselors, social workers, and those in treatment, this groundbreaking book offers crucial insights into understanding and healing shame-based behaviors.
Shame is the hidden force shaping the human mind, embedding itself in the psyche before a single word is spoken or a conscious thought is formed. In The Science of Shame and Its Treatment, psychotherapist and author Gerald Loren Fishkin, Ph.D., explores the origins of shame and self-talk, offering an empirical analysis of their core components, how shame infiltrates conscious thought, and the profound impact it has on self-worth and behavior.
Drawing from his extensive research on toxic shame, Dr. Fishkin presents multiple effective clinical approaches for treatment, highlighting why many contemporary methods—such as cognitive behavioral therapy—fail to address core shame wounds, often leading individuals to abandon therapy prematurely.
Essential reading for clinicians, addiction specialists, educators, students of human behavior, counselors, social workers, and those in treatment, this groundbreaking book offers crucial insights into understanding and healing shame-based behaviors.
Shame is the hidden force shaping the human mind, embedding itself in the psyche before a single word is spoken or a conscious thought is formed. In The Science of Shame and Its Treatment, psychotherapist and author Gerald Loren Fishkin, Ph.D., explores the origins of shame and self-talk, offering an empirical analysis of their core components, how shame infiltrates conscious thought, and the profound impact it has on self-worth and behavior.
Drawing from his extensive research on toxic shame, Dr. Fishkin presents multiple effective clinical approaches for treatment, highlighting why many contemporary methods—such as cognitive behavioral therapy—fail to address core shame wounds, often leading individuals to abandon therapy prematurely.
Essential reading for clinicians, addiction specialists, educators, students of human behavior, counselors, social workers, and those in treatment, this groundbreaking book offers crucial insights into understanding and healing shame-based behaviors.
From the Back Cover
The entire world was shocked and saddened by the premature death of Robin Williams, and especially by his own hand.
His struggles with alcohol and drug addiction are widely known and have been attributed to a lifelong battle with bipolar disorder.
As an only child, he was emotionally neglected and lonely. His inner voice became his primary companion. After a relapse in 2006, he talked about that voice. " You're standing at a precipice and you look down," he said. "There's a voice, and it's a little quiet voice, that says 'JUMP!'"
We all have that voice - it's not a thought but a self-denigrating voice. This voice echoes, "You're not good enough, you'll never be perfect, who do you think you are? You're a failure!" That is self-talk. It's never kind and represents all the toxic, negative and traumatic exposures experienced during the vulnerable and innocent periods in a child's life.
Gerald Loren Fishkin, Ph.D., psychotherapist and author, has spent the past three years researching the literature and available research regarding shame and shame effects. He concludes that there may indeed be a neurological foundation for shame and its sequelae - morbid and profoundly negative - self-talk. In his new book, The Science of Shame and Its Treatment (2016), Dr. Fishkin examines the relationship between early life trauma, abuse and shame-based behavior, mood disorders and addiction. He concludes that children exposed to trauma, abuse, neglect and violence often display the same characteristics as PTSD, often using alcohol and drugs to self-medicate and quiet the inner voice, resulting in chemical addiction and emotional despair. The self becomes the object of ridicule and scorn.