Transform Your Guilt and Shame Evidence-Based Strategies to Heal From Trauma and Adversity

This book provides scientifically proven strategies for reducing guilt and shame associated with trauma and adversity.

Automatic reactions help us survive dangerous situations. Whether we are fighting to fend off an attacker, fleeing an explosion, or freezing to maintain attachment with an abusive parent upon whom we are dependent, our hard‑wired reactions keep us safe during intensely stressful times. But these automatic responses can be followed by guilt and shame, which can linger long after the traumatic events, making us anxious, avoidant, overreactive, irritable, depressed, angry, or passive. And these symptoms, in turn, can lead to more guilt and shame, which lead to more problematic coping behaviors, in a continuing cycle.
 
This book helps readers learn to transform their unhealthy guilt and shame by identifying and changing their ways of thinking and acting that may have been adaptive in a past situation but are now keeping them stuck in this unhealthy cycle. In particular, it focuses on five categories of thought that contribute to problematic guilt and shame and shows readers how to recognize and challenge these thoughts. Each chapter contains straightforward written exercises that guide readers through the transformation process, as well as relatable examples for illustration. Grounded in research-supported cognitive behavior therapy principles, this book will help readers break free from survival‑based reactivity and regain control over their lives.

Carolyn B. Allard, PhD, ABPP, is professor and director of the clinical psychology PhD program at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Diego, and a board-certified licensed clinical psychologist. She is internationally recognized for her research and clinical expertise in sociocultural and contextual predictors of posttraumatic distress and treatment outcomes through her 200+ publications and presentations, which include Trauma Informed Guilt Reduction Therapy. She is on the editorial board of the scientific journal of the American Psychological Association’s Trauma Division, and she recently served as its president. Visit CarolynAllardPhD.com.

Introduction: How to Use This Book
Chapter 1. The Cycle of Non-Adaptive Guilt and Shame
Chapter 2. What NAGS You?
Chapter 3. Challenge Your Foreseeability and Preventability Thoughts
Chapter 4. Challenge Your Insufficient Justification Thoughts
Chapter 5. Challenge Your Responsibility Thoughts
Chapter 6. Challenge Your Wrongdoing Thoughts
Chapter 7. Challenge Your Violated Values Thoughts
Chapter 8. Use Guilt and Shame in an Adaptive Way
Afterword: Wash, Rinse, Repeat
Appendix A: Worksheets
Appendix B: Resources
Appendix C: Scientific Evidence