Chronic Shame in Clinical Practice : An Embodied Relational Perspective
About this Chronic Shame Workshop for Therapists
Chronic shame is woven into the lives, histories, and presentations of many of the people we sit with in our clinical practices. At the heart of insecure attachment, chronic shame disrupts healthy relational development, and has far-reaching implications for one’s capacity to regulate affect, engage in healthy relationships, and on one’s internal working model- how one sees themselves, others and the world. This early template of self becomes intertwined with shaming experiences across the lifespan, creating cycles of multi-layered suffering.
Because chronic shame is a relational injury, with its roots in early life, and woven into the fabric of the self, it is often confusing, elusive and activating- for both client and therapist, and can be a forceful inhibitor of the therapeutic process. Due to its non-verbal early origins, and accompanying neuro-physiological shame cascade, utilizing cognitive interventions and left hemispheric approaches are refractory, thus requiring clinicians to work from an embodied, affect regulation, relational orientation.
Through interactive lecture, discussion, small group discussion, and clinical vignettes we will explore the ins and outs of chronic shame in this chronic shame workshop for therapists—from how it is formed, to how it presents relationally and clinically, all in service of increasing our capacity as therapist to recognize and work with it from an embodied, relational orientation.
This online workshop will:
- Define and examine chronic shame
- Explore the formation of chronic shame through early attachment relationship(s) and intergenerational transmission
- Introduce the different presentations of chronic shame as correlated with differing attachment states
- Present the neurophysiological landscape of chronic shame, and resulting overwhelm, dissociation, and anticipation of future shaming
- Examine how chronic shame is being kept alive and active in present day relationships and behaviours
- Present clinical indicators of chronic shame including: addiction, secrecy, self-sabotage, relational instability, affairs, lapses in integrity, procrastination, etc.
- Present how to elicit historical information to piece together the specific relational details of harm such as ridicule, indifference, aggression, competition, etc.
- Introduce clinician countertransference by way of looking at the clinician’s shame, how it gets activated in session, and how avoiding this activation impacts working with chronic shame
- Explore how to work with chronic shame for individuals living with it, their partners, and within couple work
- Explore the nuanced dynamics of working with chronic shame, relationally, through an affect regulation model
- Look at the role of fear and resulting anticipation of shame in forming and perpetuating chronic shame
- Introduce the concept of clients ‘being on their own side’ so that they can learn to track their own subtle shame activation/risks in the moment, or post shame event, and track back when it began so that they can begin to gain more control over their relationship with chronic shame
Fees & Dates
Tuesday Evenings April 7th to May 5th, 2026
6 – 9 pm PT
$ 525.00 including gst early bird reg by March 24th; $595 thereafter
This online workshop is open to therapists with a graduate degree in a mental health discipline. The workshop is limited to 24 students.
Somatic Therapy Trainings FAQ
What is somatic therapy?
Somatic therapy attends to body and both right and left hemispheres to attend to injuries of the body and mind. It has various applications, is profoundly potent in treating trauma - relational, incident, and complex.
How does this orientation differ from Somatic Experiencing (SE)?
The heart of Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy (SAP) is the reparation of attachment injuries. SAP uniquely weaves somatic psychotherapy with attachment theory and application to practice through a psychodynamic, relational lens. In this way, the SAP orientation is distinct from Somatic Experiencing (SE) and other body-based modalities.
Who are these courses intended for?
These courses are intended for psychotherapists seeking to advance and deepen their clinical practice. Participants need a graduate degree in a clinical mental health discipline.
How is this orientation grounded in evidence-based practice?
Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy draws upon diverse research in neuroscience, attachment theory and research, trauma studies, Polyvagal Theory, and Interpersonal Neurobiology. It also draws on the rich psychoanalytic lineage arcing over the past century. Our curriculums integrate these frameworks into clinical application.
What’s the difference between somatic therapy and traditional talk therapy?
Talk therapy primarily engages cognitive and left-hemisphere processes whereas somatic attachment psychotherapy, integrates both right and left hemispheric processes, working directly with the autonomic nervous system, attachment patterning and relational dynamics, affect regulation, mentalization, and embodiment for the reparation of trauma, specifically relational/attachment trauma.
Can I become a somatic therapist through your offerings?
No. Our offerings are for clinicians who have a graduate degree in a clinical mental health discipline. They provide sophisticated and nuanced theoretical, conceptual and application to practice in the areas of somatic practice, attachment repair, and relational practice. Our work is uniquely embodied and relational.