Self-Compassion Workshop

This exciting new workshop is titled, “Meeting Toxic Shame with Tenderhearted Presence“!  Shame is part of the human experience and often it shows up on our doorstep uninvited.  We may try to escape or avoid shame for a time, but eventually we must face it if we want true healing and well-being.  Although it may sound paradoxical, meeting shame with greater acceptance and loving-kindness can free us from its bonds and open the door to wholehearted living.

In this cutting-edge workshop, we will explore the nature of toxic shame.  We will discover that it is the kind of shame that  disconnects us from our truth and leaves us with the lie that someone else told us.  We will learn to distinguish toxic shame from guilt and to better understand the effects of carried shame.  Time-honored techniques involving mindfulness and loving-kindness will be employed to become more intimate with the experience of shame.

Using a mix of informative discussion, humorous anecdotes,  and experiential exercises, we will explore the origins of toxic shame and its connection to unmet needs.  We will explore how toxic shame may have been protective at one time and may have been important to our survival.  We will identify personal patterns of fight, flight, and freeze that often manifest as an instinctive response to toxic shame and the associated unmet need.

Perhaps most importantly, we will practice bringing tenderhearted presence to the experience of shame.  We will begin to open to the life that is right here, just as it is, with greater kindness and compassion.  Using unique experiential exercises, we will cultivate greater loving-kindness and mindfulness as ways of befriending our own suffering, including the suffering associated with shame.  This transformative process wakes us up to our true nature – whole and complete.

This workshop is presented by Dr. Caldwell and can be a 1/2 day or a full-day workshop complete with workbook materials.  It is perfect for small and large groups, people in treatment centers and people in the community.  It can also be applied to corporate and work settings.  Learn more by contacting Dr. Caldwell today!