The Shame in Trauma and the Trauma in Shame

Providing Resources

Course Description

This webinar will soon come with 2 CE credits - as a home study opportunity. Email [email protected] if you'd like to be notified when the course is ready for CE credits.

Shame often accompanies trauma and being shamed can have a traumatic effect. Shame and Trauma are both states of freeze.


Being able to understand and have compassion for the parts of the person that are still frozen in shame helps us be able to sit with a client without having our own shame triggered. Memories of a time when a person froze in embarrassment or shock can help unlock the unhealed places in a person’s physiology.


In working with trauma, there is a tendency to miss the shame component that is often hiding in plain sight.


And shame can be worked with most successfully as a form of trauma, utilizing many somatic techniques.

Shame also has a strong cognitive component - the belief that “something is wrong with me” - that needs to be addressed.

In this presentation, we will explore the connection between shame and trauma and look at ways to unlock somatic and imaginal resources to work with both effectively.

Shame often accompanies trauma and being shamed can have a traumatic effect. Shame and Trauma are both states of freeze.

Being able to understand and have compassion for the parts of the person that are still frozen in shame helps us be able to sit with a client without having our own shame triggered. Memories of a time when a person froze in embarrassment or shock can help unlock the unhealed places in a person’s physiology.

In working with trauma, there is a tendency to miss the shame component that is often hiding in plain sight

And shame can be worked with most successfully as a form of trauma, utilizing many somatic techniques.

Shame also has a strong cognitive component - the belief that “something is wrong with me” - that needs to be addressed.

In this presentation, we will explore the connection between shame and trauma and look at ways to unlock somatic and imaginal resources to work with both effectively.

Course Objectives
  • Describe the strong similarities between shame and trauma - and the important differences
  • Name the four basic reactions to shame and the characteristics of each reaction.
  • Utilize techniques to counter feelings of shame.
  • Discuss strategies to get though shame defenses of over-verbalization, dissociation and freezing.
  • Utilize four realms of human experience—cognitive, somatic-emotional, imaginal and interpersonal—to create optimal distance from shame.
  • Identify the differences between healthy shame and toxic shame.

Bibliography
Broucek, F. J. (1991). Shame and the self. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Kaufman, G. (1985). Shame: the power of caring. Rochester, VT: Schenkman Books.
Levine, P. (2010). In an unspoken voice: how the body releases trauma and restores goodness. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Levine, P. (1997). Waking the tiger: healing shame. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Nathanson, D. (1992.) Shame and pride: affect, sex, and the birth of the self. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Porges, S. (2011). The polyvagal theory: neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communications and self-regulation. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Rubin, S. (2007) Women, food and feelings: drama therapy with women who have an eating disorder. In S. Brooke (Ed.) The creative therapies and eating disorders (pp. 173-193). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact [email protected]


Free Access to Event Registrants, Course and CEU Fees:

This Course is available for $45. For an additional $15 processing fee you can receive 2 CE credits for this course (coming soon). USABP Members do not have to pay the $45 dollar course fee. Use your member discount code during the check out process. Contact [email protected] for your member or non-member discount code. Non-members who registered for this live webinar event can also reach out by email to receive their discount code. Members and Non-Members do have to pay the CE processing fee (when those become available). NOT A MEMBER and WANT THE DISCOUNT? Join us.

Your Instructor


Sheila Rubin, MA, LMFT, RDT/BCT; Brett Lyon, PhD,
Sheila Rubin, MA, LMFT, RDT/BCT; Brett Lyon, PhD,

Sheila Rubin, MA, LMFT, RDT/BCT is a leading authority on Healing Shame. She co-created theHealing Shame–Lyon/Rubin Method and has delivered talks, presentations and workshops across the country and around the world, at conferences from Canada to Romania. Sheila has been presenting Healing Shame workshops with her husband, Bret Lyon, for over 10 years; she has been presenting workshops for therapists about working with shame, eating disorders, and child and family trauma for over 25 years.

Brett Lyon, Phd is the co-director, co-creator and facilitator at the Center for Healing Shame. Additionally, he has been a private practice clinician for over 40 years. Brett teaches at Pomona College, Tufts University and is faculty at American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Brett is widely trained in various somatic approaches and holds certifications in Focusing, Somatic Experiencing and he is a Board Certified Coach.


Course Curriculum


  Webinar Presentation
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

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