Shame in the Therapy Hour: Recognizing, Managing, and Transforming Our Darkest Emotion

Shame in the Therapy Hour: Recognizing, Managing, and Transforming Our Darkest Emotion / June Tangney, Ph.D. / George Mason University / Saturday, March 26, 2016, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. / Location: Kiva Theater, University of Arizona Student UnionAlthough clinicians often use the terms “shame” and “guilt” interchangeably, ample research indicates that these are distinct emotions with very different implications for motivation and behavior (Tangney, et al., 2007). This workshop summarizes research on the phenomenology of shame and guilt (Wicker, et al., 1983; Tangney, et al., 1996), as well as clinically relevant empirical work demonstrating a link between shame and denial, defensiveness, and aggression (e.g., Stuewig, et al., 2010). Although ubiquitous in clinical settings, shame is a silent emotion. Clients rarely announce that they feel shame. Participants will become familiar with empirically validated verbal and non-verbal markers of shame (Keltner, 1995). Strategies for responding to, managing, and transforming or resolving client shame will be discussed, drawing on a handful of explicitly shame-focused therapies with empirical support (Gilbert, 2014; Rizvi & Linehan, 2005), augmented by observations of “master clinicians” presented in a recent edited volume on Shame in the Therapy Hour (Dearing & Tangney, 2011). The workshop will close with a consideration of therapists’ shame, as well as shame in supervisor-supervisee relationships.This event was co-sponsored by the University of Arizona Clinical Psychology Training Program & the Southern Arizona Psychological Association (SAPA), with support from The Kenneth Gerber Library Endowment Fund

Some Implications of Maternal Employment for the Mother and the Family

The current paper explores the relation of mothers' employment status to a variety of factors relevant to the home environment, particularly those that may directly affect the emotional and cognitive development of children in these families. The results are based on secondary analyses of data from two independent studies--one of parents of preschool children, the other of families of elementary school children. Because issues pertaining to mothers' employment status were incidental to the main thrust of these studies, this report cannot do justice to more complex models of the linkages between work and family contexts. Most notably, our data sets do not include many of the factors hypothesized to moderate the interface between work and family situ- ations. Rather, it is hoped that these secondary analyses can contribute added information concerning the global relationship of maternal employment to some parent and family characteristics critical to children's healthy emotional development, while at the same time underlining some of the special needs of mothers who work outside the home

High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success

What good is self-control? We incorporated a new measure of individual differences in self-control into two large investigations of a broad spectrum of behaviors. The new scale showed good internal consistency and retest reliability. Higher scores on self-control correlated with a higher grade point average, better adjustment (fewer reports of psychopathology, higher self-esteem), less binge eating and alcohol abuse, better relationships and interpersonal skills, secure attachment, and more optimal emotional responses. Tests for curvilinearity failed to indicate any drawbacks of so-called overcontrol, and the positive effects remained after controlling for social desirability. Low self-control is thus a significant risk factor for a broad range of personal and interpersonal problems

Behind bars but connected to family: Evidence for the benefits of family contact during incarceration.

Incarceration separates individuals from their families and communities, strictly limiting and controlling contact with the outside world. Despite these barriers, those who maintain contact with their families during incarceration tend to function more adaptively postrelease. Within a longitudinal framework, the current study examines mechanisms (i.e., family connectedness, postrelease planning) by which contact with family during incarceration may impact postrelease functioning (i.e., recidivism, substance misuse, mental illness, community functioning), considering differences between type of contact (visits, phone calls, letters) and whether it occurred in a jail or prison setting. Participants included 507 adults incarcerated in a local jail (Mage = 32 years, SD = 10 years; 70% male; 44.3% Black, 36.4% White; 59.5% parents). Structural equation modeling results demonstrated having more frequent contact with family during incarceration predicts increases in family connectedness, which in turn predicts better mental health during the first-year postrelease. Although not related to frequency of contact, making plans for postrelease predicted adaptive community functioning during the first-year postrelease. There were no differences in the overall model based on type of contact or incarceration in a jail versus prison setting. These findings suggest maintaining contact with family during incarceration can facilitate more psychologically healthy adjustment during the stressful process of reentering society. Furthermore, incarcerated individuals should be encouraged to make plans for postrelease while still incarcerated either independently or in collaboration with family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Shaming, blaming, and maiming: Functional links among the moral emotions, externalization of blame, and aggression

general view, wall and gate, southwest view, November 198