Toxic Shame Of Complex Post Traumatic Stress
Trauma Rewired
Understanding Toxic Shame and Its Physiological Impact
The chapter delves into the concept of toxic shame, distinguishing it from ordinary shame and its profound effects on one's sense of self. It explores how toxic shame, deeply ingrained in individuals with complex trauma, leads to enduring feelings of worthlessness and self-criticism, impacting physiology and behavior patterns significantly.
As a human, you have most likely felt shame to some degree. Although it is a normal human protective emotion to keep us safe on a societal level, shame can become toxic when it persists and when we internalize the critical narrative from that shame. Toxic shame shows up in many ways, however, the way it shows up physiologically is understood the least, but the most telling. From posture, dilated pupils, tense muscles, to inflammation in the body, headaches, and diseases, it is possible to visibly see shame on a person’s body. This is a result of the body protecting itself, and there is no shame in that. However once it becomes maladaptive, and absolute “I am” statements start becoming permanent fixtures in rumination, one’s perception of self shifts, which can eventually cause serious mental and physical health issues. On today’s episode, Elisabeth and Jennifer discuss how toxic shame differs from regular shame, how toxic shame shows up, what happens in the body when it does, where toxic shame originates from, how shame and pleasure shows up in those with a history of childhood sexual abuse, and what you can do to recognize and repattern toxic shame with Neuro-Somatic Coaching.
Just as toxic shame is developed, it can be undeveloped, by learning how to recognize when and how it shows up in the body, then repatterning the neural pathways in real time using NSI tools, and allowing repressed emotions to mobilize. This episode is filled with knowledge and insight you don’t want to miss. Tune in for this and more! Topics discussed in this episode:
- The difference between guilt and shame
- Difference between regular shame and toxic shame
- How toxic shame affects posture
- How shame is a protective response
- What is shame inflammation and its correlation to disease states?
- Why mobilizing the body is crucial to process emotions
- What is emotional attunement?
- Overcoupling of shame and pleasure in the case of childhood sexual abuse
- The types of body boundary violations
- What to do if you are having a toxic shame response?
- Why it’s important for practitioners to understand when a client is in a shame response
- Repattering shame in real time
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