"If you say to me, "this is what my ancestors experienced 200 years ago, 500 years ago, 20 years ago, 20 minutes ago." And I don't witness that, which means I say, "Come on, get over it, let it go. I can't believe you're still hanging on to that stuff." That's a shaming witness. When I do that, it completes the trauma bond. That's not a past trauma. That's a current trauma in the moment." -- David Bedrick

My collaborator on the Shame Clinic, David Bedrick and I had an incredibly important conversation today. We discussed:

(1) the difference between assault and shame,
(2) what exactly a 'shaming witness' is in the context of oppression, and
(3) how a 'shaming culture' is formed in a society that perpetuates trauma over and over again in present time;
(4) and what it takes to heal.

This is some of the most powerful teaching on the psychology of shame and oppression that I have ever encountered. Listen now.

Register for the Shame Clinic today for deeper work on this.