Shame Resilience and Jung’s Transpersonal Theory Applied to Mental Illness Mental illness is something that touches almost everyone, and it is important to understand the ways that people can deal with their illnesses. Although there are an overwhelming number of theories that can be applied to therapy practices, I wanted to look at theories that were a little more individual. Two theories that caught my attention when thinking about how people cope were shame resilience theory and transpersonal theory, specifically Jung’s psychodynamic theory. Both of these theories focus on what the individual does internally to deal with their negative feelings, which intrigues me since my background is in psychology. Each theory is also fairly compact,
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Shame resilience theory is very applicable to social work practice. Social workers can guide clients through shame resilience theory by using the theory’s focus on critical awareness and education (TEXTBOOK PAGE 236). Education is key when using shame resilience theory, as learning about the process and developing coping strategies along the way are necessary to better manage conditions that elicit shame (Hernandez & Mendoza, 2011). At the most basic level, a social worker can coach the client through the four steps of the theory if they are unable to begin the process by themselves. This process builds off of original resilience practices, which focused on making social factors and personality traits known to the individual so they could use their abilities to avoid negative feelings (Van Vliet, 2008). Connection in order to combat shame is highly important, but aside from establishing a connection there had not been much research or empirical evidence to support a therapist’s role in helping clients through shame (Leeming & Boyle, 2011). By establishing a connection between the person experiencing shame and the social worker, the client is able to create a resource for reaching out and speaking shame either now or in the future when they are ready. The social worker can also help the client discover areas of their life that create the shame, such as …show more content…
The theory is easily to understand, which makes is doable for individuals without psychology or social work related training. Breaking it down into four distinct parts allows people to follow along and identify which stages they are in, making sure everything is done in order to establish shame resilience. The clear focus of the theory is eliminating shame, so the purpose for using it does not become murky (Brown, 2006). The research that is available on shame resilience theory portrays it in a mostly positive light. As was briefly mentioned earlier, going through the shame resilience process could make it easier to identify and deal with future issues, potentially saving a person from intense feelings of shame. Being able to practice shame resilience with a mental illness could be a huge factor in continuing recovery for an individual. Since shame is a universal feeling, but the reasons it is felt are not, the theory addresses individuality and diversity quite well (TEXTBOOK PAGE 231). Being individualized to the extent that shame resilience is could potentially add to the benefit of becoming familiar with the workings of the theory in order to apply it to other life aspects, as mentioned above. By identifying the ends of the continuum – main concerns to components of shame resilience – the experience of shame can be transformed into the experience of empathy, which helps the individual as well
Shame resilience theory is very applicable to social work practice. Social workers can guide clients through shame resilience theory by using the theory’s focus on critical awareness and education (TEXTBOOK PAGE 236). Education is key when using shame resilience theory, as learning about the process and developing coping strategies along the way are necessary to better manage conditions that elicit shame (Hernandez & Mendoza, 2011). At the most basic level, a social worker can coach the client through the four steps of the theory if they are unable to begin the process by themselves. This process builds off of original resilience practices, which focused on making social factors and personality traits known to the individual so they could use their abilities to avoid negative feelings (Van Vliet, 2008). Connection in order to combat shame is highly important, but aside from establishing a connection there had not been much research or empirical evidence to support a therapist’s role in helping clients through shame (Leeming & Boyle, 2011). By establishing a connection between the person experiencing shame and the social worker, the client is able to create a resource for reaching out and speaking shame either now or in the future when they are ready. The social worker can also help the client discover areas of their life that create the shame, such as …show more content…
The theory is easily to understand, which makes is doable for individuals without psychology or social work related training. Breaking it down into four distinct parts allows people to follow along and identify which stages they are in, making sure everything is done in order to establish shame resilience. The clear focus of the theory is eliminating shame, so the purpose for using it does not become murky (Brown, 2006). The research that is available on shame resilience theory portrays it in a mostly positive light. As was briefly mentioned earlier, going through the shame resilience process could make it easier to identify and deal with future issues, potentially saving a person from intense feelings of shame. Being able to practice shame resilience with a mental illness could be a huge factor in continuing recovery for an individual. Since shame is a universal feeling, but the reasons it is felt are not, the theory addresses individuality and diversity quite well (TEXTBOOK PAGE 231). Being individualized to the extent that shame resilience is could potentially add to the benefit of becoming familiar with the workings of the theory in order to apply it to other life aspects, as mentioned above. By identifying the ends of the continuum – main concerns to components of shame resilience – the experience of shame can be transformed into the experience of empathy, which helps the individual as well