By Hadi Bahlawan Marcher and Lene Wisbom
A man enters a party with many new faces; to join in, to connect with these unfamiliar faces, he makes a joke. Everyone stares at him, no one laughs. The joke falls flat because it was loaded with harsh humour and this party was not the best place to share it. At this point, the man probably experiences feeling a sense of shame after seeing the response. He looks awkward and becomes quiet. It is an uncomfortable situation for all.
After his failed joke, the man barely speaks to anyone the rest of the time he is there. The shame got stuck or the man got stuck in the shame. The awkward incident prevented him from socializing and feeling connected with other people at the party. After the party ended and the man headed home, he noticed that he was very lonely. He was so caught up in shame that it was all he was sensing, along with some bodily pain. All his attention and energy went to trying to regulate himself in this feeling.
So, what can he do? What can a therapist do to help a person to move forward? What resources and strategies can a person get from Bodynamic in this case?
In our upcoming workshop at the 16th European Congress for Body Psychotherapy, September 6-9, 2018, in Berlin, Germany we will present the basic theory and understanding of how shame influence our lives, what tools you can use to work with the emotion and we will present physical exercises related to this theme.
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