Shame is a feeling often associated with guilt, but psychiatrist Curt Thompson argues that shame comes from a much deeper place inside each of us — the soul.
Thompson will be in Birmingham on Sept. 30 to lead “The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves,” a one-day conference based on his book of the same title. The conference is presented by Pathways Professional Counseling, a ministry of Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries (ABCH), with special support from the Department of Social Work at Samford University in Birmingham and The Alabama Baptist.
“Shame is one of the top underlying issues we see in counseling,” said Lisa Keane, clinical director for Pathways. “Shame is something we experience early in our lives and those false messages become the templates from which we operate in life and cloud how we see different circumstances in life.”
The impact of shame is evident in marriage and post-trauma counseling, as well as in counseling with teens and small children, Keane said. Christian therapists seek to help clients identify the false messages of shame and replace them with healthier messages about what God says about us.
“As believers we often misconstrue shame versus guilt. We need a very honest, open conversation about how to address this topic theologically as well as psychologically,” Keane said. “The Lord has blessed Dr. Thompson to beautifully address this topic with a humble, authentic heart that desires to help others find healing.”
‘Emotional weapon’
In his books and presentations, Thompson helps counselors and others understand the significance of shame from a Christian perspective. In “The Soul of Shame,” Thompson argues that since the Garden of Eden shame has been an “emotional weapon that evil uses to corrupt our relationships with God and each other.” The result of shame is that believers are prevented from effectively using their God-given gifts of “vocational vision and creativity,” Thompson writes, preventing them from daily shining the light of Jesus in their jobs, their homes and their families.
“Evil is a real thing and it is intent to starve us of beauty and goodness. And shame is the tool that it wields more effectively than any other,” Thompson writes.
The good news is that Jesus is no stranger to shame, he said.
“God knows all about shame, and not just as an abstract idea from which He has been immune to experience,” Thompson writes. “It is something that He knows all too well because He has been to its very center — and has lived to tell about it.”
God desires to tell a very different story, one about “healing our shame, changing our brains and setting us free to create as we never have before,” Thompson writes.
Healing process
During the conference Thompson will address the role of storytelling in the healing process and how healing from shame can liberate individuals and communities to realize broader vocational possibilities.
Rod Marshall, ABCH president, said counselors who understand the role of shame in the human experience are better equipped to help those who struggle to tell their stories and find healing. Conference participants will appreciate Thompson’s thoughtful examination of shame as a universal struggle of the human race as they learn practical ways to help patients resolve conflicts directly related to the effect of shame, including how to better incorporate spiritual practices into the counseling process, he said.
“Professional counselors, pastors and interested lay leaders will leave this conference enlightened, challenged and motivated to better understand the shame-based struggles faced every day by their fellow sojourners,” Marshall said. “Dr. Thompson is a bold pioneer into the intersection of Christian spirituality and neurobiology, yet he does an excellent job of translating his findings into challenging, yet accessible terms.”
In addition to his private practice Thompson is the founder of Being Known, an organization that develops resources to educate and train leaders about the intersection between interpersonal neurobiology, Christian spiritual formation and vocational creativity. He also is the author of “Anatomy of the Soul: Surprising Connections between Neuroscience and Spiritual Practices That Can Transform Your Life and Relationships,” which looks at the connection between brain science and spiritual practices.
Thompson’s focus of clinical and research interest has been the integration of psychiatry, its associated disciplines and Christian spirituality.
‘The Soul of Shame’ conference will be held Sept. 30 at Pathways Professional Counseling, 2681 Rocky Ridge Lane, Birmingham. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the conference begins at 8:30. Opportunity to earn continuing education credits is available. Seating is limited, so pre-registration is recommended. For more information or to register for the conference, visit www.pathwaysprofessional.org or call 205-945-0037. (TAB)
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