Dear Neil: I met a man who I grew extremely fond of, but he is dealing with what appears to be shame-based baggage. After some really far-out, sensationalistic accusations toward me, and a great deal of elevated anxiety, I included his family. But I probably did the worst thing possible because he took it all […]
Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Feelings of shame and personal inadequacy can be transformed into feelings of self-love and self-caring. The negative feelings can end. Here’s how, according to Pat and Ron Potter-Efron in the book The Secret Message of Shame (New Harbinger): Ask yourself the following questions: When do I feel […]
Note: This is the first of a two-part series. Dear Neil: I have been full of shame and fear all of my life. I recently met a guy who uses alcohol to cover up his emotions, which I guess to also be shame and fear. We’re both in our fifties. Is he a good risk […]
Dear Neil: I was very interested to read your column about the rage-shame connection. My husband suffers from this to a degree that it affects every day of his life. How do you heal shame? Trying to Overcome Wellington, New Zealand Dear Trying to Overcome: The rejection of self is central to feeling toxic shame. […]
Dear Neil: You’ve recently written about shame. Can you address why some of us feel an inner sense of shame no matter what we say or do? I’m not talking about feeling ashamed when I do something I know to be wrong. That’s having a conscience. I’m talking about feeling unworthy, inadequate, unlovable or not […]
Dear Neil: I seem to get defensive a lot—whenever someone at work criticizes me or suggests how I could have done better, whenever my husband makes a request of me that implies that I’m not doing a good enough job as a wife, whenever my daughter says something that hurts me. Then I get angry, […]