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Shame and the fear of feeling
1University of Akron, College of Nursing, OH, USA.
Topic:
Toxic shame and the concomitant fear of feeling are core issues needing to be addressed during group therapy with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Purpose:
To increase awareness of the toxic shame that survivors experience and to describe the impact of group therapy based on a family systems model.
Source:
The authors' clinical experiences.
Conclusions:
Symptom management, repatterning of cognitive distortions, and the improvement of self-care strategies are identified as crucial aspects of healing shame-based feelings and behaviors. Group treatment offers members the opportunity to cease reenacting family rules and roles that create toxic shame.
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