Trauma, Self-Shaming, and Mourning

How does trauma shape the way we see ourselves—and what happens when the shame that follows becomes turned inward? In this full-day program, Peter Shabad, PhD, will explore the powerful role of self-shaming in the aftermath of trauma and its impact on emotional life, relationships, and the therapeutic process. Drawing connections between shame, self-doubt, resentment, envy, and the search for certainty, Dr. Shabad will also examine the important distinction between guilt and shame and consider how shame may contribute to the appeal of authoritarianism. Turning to clinical practice, Dr. Shabad will consider psychological symptoms as a non-verbal means of communicating and memorializing traumatic experience. He will explore the ethics of countertransference and the importance of preserving the patient's agency, freedom of self-determination, and capacity for self-healing. The program will conclude by considering mourning as a vital process of self-acceptance—one that allows previously dissociated wishes and hopes to be acknowledged and integrated. Through this process, the possibility emerges not simply to recover from trauma, but to reclaim the freedom to become.