Debra Alvis – The Shame Spiral: Release Shame and Cultivate Healthy Attachment in Clients with Anxiety, Trauma, Depression and Relational Difficulties

Outline

Recognize Shame: Assessment Tools

• Shame vs. guilt
• Multicultural perspectives
• How addressing shame expedites treatment
• Reading the body – non-verbal signs of shame
• Interviewing questions for assessing shame in:
  • Key relationships and current patterns
  • Sexual, physical or verbal abuse, trauma, and neglect

Shame and Attachment Styles: Clinical Strategies to Cultivate Secure Attachment and Self-Compassion

• Characteristics of shaming environments
• Concerns of adults shamed in childhood
• Strategies to replicate conditions for healthy attachment
  • How to enhance presence, attunement, resonance and trust
  • Dignity in the telling – titrating shame exposure
• Somatic approaches to cultivate secure attachment
  • Developmental movements
  • Horizontal processing
• Self-compassion exercises
  • Interventions to address interpersonal difficulties
  • Befriend bodily sensations
  • Common humanity visualizations

Address Shame in Your Trauma Treatment Plans: Reclaim the Body from Shame with Breath and Movement

• How shame complicates trauma recovery
• Polyvagal theory – shame and the shutdown response
• Shame and victims of sexual assault – from victim to survivor
• Exercises to strengthen connections
  • Belongingness treasures
  • Divine child mandala
  • I am meditation – choosing visibility
• Interventions based in breath and movement
  • Heart mudra and breath – embracing resistance
  • The peaceful warrior

Effectively Intervene in the Downward Spiral of Shame, Anxiety and Depression:

Cognitive approaches that lean into ruminatory shame

• Put shame into perspective
• Dispute shame messages

Anxiety interventions for the shame-prone client

• Breath and movement strategies to stem panic
• How yoga addresses anxiety symptoms

Break through shame fueled depression with:

• Techniques to bring shame to light
• Prosocial behavior
• Imagery-based compassion exercises

The Devastating Impact of Shame in Relationships: Build, Maintain and Repair Couple and Family Relationships

• Unmask shame – anger and other disguises
• Engage partners in shame reparation
• Shame resiliency strategies – empathy, forgiveness and compassion
  • Forgiveness in practice – Releasing breath with mantra
  • Identify shame wounds and antidotes
  • Mindful RAIN for shame – regulate emotions and reduce judgmental thoughts

Shame Research, Limitations and Treatment Risks

Faculty

Debra Alvis, Ph.D. Related seminars and products: 10

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Debra Alvis, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, professor, and workplace wellness consultant whose trainings to address compassion fatigue have helped healthcare and mental health professionals around the country, including the medical staff at a flagship state university health center.

Over the last 20 years Dr. Alvis has designed individualized and group programs to promote stress hardiness, work-life balance, and resiliency for nurses, physicians, social workers, counselors, and others working in jobs with excessive demands on their empathy. Her work in a range of medical and mental health settings provides her with a keen understanding of these demands and the potential impact on professionals across disciplines.

Dr. Alvis also developed and led the Mind/Body Program at the University of Georgia that specializes in addressing anxiety, stress, and depression in individuals with physical health concerns and co-morbid mental health issues.

Dr. Alvis lectures, leads retreats around the world, and maintains a private practice in Georgia where she treats clients with anxiety, trauma, shame, depression and relational concerns. She continues to serve as a professor at the University of Georgia where she supervises the clinical work of doctoral students, teaches health psychology, and co-leads a research team.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Debra Alvis is in private practice. Dr. Alvis receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Debra Alvis has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.