This insightful new book sheds light directly on shame and guilt--interactive aspects of the human condition that are deeply involved in the development and treatment of alcoholism and chemical dependency. Contributors to this valuable book discuss the process of healing internalized shame within the chemically dependent client and among the family members. They explore creative techniqes that foster understanding and coping strategies--videotaping and storytelling with clay and stuffed animals. Professionals who are experienced in treating chemically dependent clients and their families explore shame and the healing of shame, while examining the culture within which both occur. A major focus is the destructiveness of shame and guilt--shame keeps the family from seeking help, erodes self-worth, and produces destructive secrets that cannot heal, and guilt may circulate freely between alcoholic and family members, so that everyone begins to feel responsible for the pain of others.

Potter-Efron, Ron; Potter-Efron, Patricia

Contents
Shame in the Eighties

• Shame and Guilt: Definitions, Processes, and Treatment Issues With AODA Clients
• The Process of Healing Shame
• Creative Approaches to Shame and Guilt: Helping the Adult Child of an Alcoholic
• Rekindled Spirit of a Child: Intervention Strategies for Shame With Elementary Age Children of Alcoholics
• Videotaping in Groups for Children of Substance Abusers: A Strategy for Emotionally Disturbed, Acting-Out Children
• From Guilt Through Shame to AA: A Self-Reconciliation Process
• Substance Abuse, Shame, and Professional Boundaries and Ethics: Disentangling the Issues
• Shame and Guilt Issues Among Women Alcoholics
• Shame, Boundaries, and Dissociation in Chemically Dependent, Abusive, and Incestuous Families
• Shame and Forgiving in Alcoholism
• Measuring Shame: The Internalized Shame Scale