The shame you feel at work isn’t a personal flaw, but a kind of violence acting on your story, your body, and your worth. In this episode, I sit down with psychologist David Bedrick, whose pioneering work on unshaming helps us understand how shame interprets the world for us and how you can reclaim your own internal witness. We talk about why shame is not just a feeling but a lens, how childhood interpretations stick with us for decades, and why so many of us carry invisible pain through our careers, relationships, and leadership roles. David shares how the body speaks when our lives become too heavy to carry, and how that “symptom” is often a messenger of our deeper story, not a problem to be erased. Tune in to start unshaming yourself from the inside out.

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In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 What is shame and why is it not a feeling?

04:15 How childhood witnessing becomes your lifelong lens.

08:00 The link between chronic illness, over-responsibility, and hidden shame.

14:00 How a simple temper tantrum can reveal a protest your body is begging you to hear.

19:30 Why pain and exhaustion are often your body’s way of saying “this is too much.”

21:30 How layoffs, business failure, and money anxiety get wrapped in shame at work.

26:00 The one question that begins unshaming others and yourself.

29:00 How to ask about someone’s experience without piling on more shame.

37:00 Why we never tell anyone about our chronic pain.

41:30 How to start walking the “unshaming way” in your own life, relationships, and work.

Resources + Links

Learn more about David Bedrick HERE

Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever

Watch the podcast on YouTube 

Find more resources on our website morraam.com

Follow

Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam

Follow David: @david.bedrick