Shame

Free Yourself, Find Joy, and Build True Self-Esteem

Shame is a difficult emotion, and most of us do what we can to avoid it. But veteran psychologist Joe Burgo shows us how we can use shame – which is an inevitable part of being human – as a tool for better understanding of ourselves and of our relationships with others.

Encounters with embarrassment, guilt, self-consciousness and remorse are an unavoidable part of everyday life, and they sometimes have lessons to teach us – about our goals and values, about the person we expect ourselves to be.

Richly illustrated with clinical stories from Burgo's 35 years in private practice, Shame suggests that this often excruciating emotion tells us a lot about our own self-awareness, and should not always be considered a toxic influence in our lives.

In Shame, Joseph Burgo takes an intimate look at the full spectrum of shame – often masked by addiction, promiscuity, perfectionism, self-loathing, or narcissism – and offers a new, positive route forward on the road to authentic self-esteem.

Joseph Burgo, PhD, has been practicing psychotherapy for more than 35 years and held licenses as a marriage and family therapist and clinical psychologist. He earned his undergraduate degree in English Literature at UCLA and both his masters and doctorate in Psychology at California Graduate Institute in Los Angeles. He has featured as an expert on NPR and his articles and commentary have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, USA Today, Glamour, and other major publications. He also writes a blog on the topic of shame for Psychology Today and covers personal development issues from a psychodynamic perspective on his personal website, After Psychotherapy. He is the author of Why Do I Do That? and The Narcissist You Know.

Shame
Pan Macmillan Australia
Author: Joseph Burgo
RRP: $32.95