Counselling Skills for Working with Shame

Counselling Skills for Working with Shame helps professionals understand and identify shame while building shame resilience in both the client and themselves. Shame is prevalent in counselling, where there is increased vulnerability and risk of exposure to shame. Many clients experience feelings of shame, but it is often overlooked in the therapeutic process and can be left untreated. This is particularly relevant when working with clients who have experienced complex trauma, sexual or domestic violence, or who struggle with addiction.

Written in an accessible style, this hands-on, skills-based guide assists practitioners in identifying what elicits, evokes, or triggers shame. It provides a general introduction to the nature of shame in both client and counsellor and how these become intertwined in the therapeutic relationship. The focus is on increasing awareness of shame and how to release it to build shame resilience.

With points for reflection, helpful exercises, top tips, reminders, and suggestions for working with clients, this is a highly practical guide for counsellors, therapists, mental health practitioners, nurses, social workers, educators, human resources professionals, trainee counsellors, and students.

Christiane Sanderson BSc., MSc. is a lecturer in Psychology at the University of Roehampton. With 26 years of experience working in child sexual abuse, sexual violence, complex trauma, and domestic abuse, she has provided consultancy and training for various organizations, including parents, teachers, social workers, nurses, therapists, counsellors, solicitors, and others. She is the author of several books on trauma and counselling, also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.