The many names for shame reveal how central and painful it is. They also mean that we often miss it. In my upcoming book, I explore the many expressions of shame of both healthy and chronic shame. If you’d like to learn more, you’re invited to join my free newsletter 👉 danielasieff.com/sign-up/
Posts by Daniela Sieff PhD
Working with chronic shame is not only personal work. It quietly shapes the emotional climate around us, reducing the harm we pass on and widening what becomes possible between people.My upcoming book on chronic shame explores how we can work with chronic shame and the difference that makes to us ✨
Some shame comes from the inside - not from being seen, but from feeling we’ve betrayed ourselves.
Sometimes there is a genuine betrayal, and then we need to listen to shame. But other times, we are betraying values that are not true to us. And then we have to step forward anyhow.
Grief is not a detour from healing chronic shame; it is part of the path.
It is something I explore in depth in my upcoming book on chronic shame and its healing. If you’d like to learn more, you’re warmly invited to join my free newsletter via this link –
www.danielasieff.com/sign-up
Chronic shame isn’t a passing warning signal. It’s a distorted alarm system turned against the self.
I explore this in depth in my upcoming book on chronic shame. Feel free to join my free newsletter for updates, priority webinar booking, and discounts - danielasieff.com/sign-up/
Shame has a genuine protective role to play in our lives, but it can also become distorted. This kind of inner shaming voice is a distortion. I explore this topic in my upcoming book. If you’d like to learn more, please click here to join - danielasieff.com/sign-up/
This is from a draft of the book I am writing on chronic shame. Healing asks for the next step, not the whole path.
If you’d like to learn more and get priority booking and discounts for the webinars I’ll run once the book is published, sign up link here - danielasieff.com/sign-up/
Shame is part of being human, and so healing from chronic shame does not mean getting rid of it. Instead, it means learning how to recognise it and steady ourselves when it arises.
#DanielaSieff #ChronicShame #HealingShame #TraumaHealing #DepthPsychology #EmotionalResilience #SelfDiscovery
Shame can isolate, yet it’s always relational. It can be healthy or harmful. My book explores both through lived experience - mine and others’ - and research in anthropology, evolution, depth psychology, and emotion. Join my free newsletter to learn more: danielasieff.com/sign-up/
Emotional resilience is not emotional control. It’s the ability to notice when we’re overwhelmed and hold our feelings before acting on them. Like learning to swim as an adult, it develops slowly - we practise, falter, and try again, and over time it changes how we relate to ourselves and others.
Chronic shame may never fully disappear - but healing changes how we relate to it.
For me, the shift came when I stopped silencing shame and learned to recognise it, endure it, and return from it.
I explore this in my forthcoming book, to see more of this topic - danielasieff.com/sign-up/
Thank you so much - really appreciate that.
I offer an on-demand presentation on the Archetypal Death Parent and toxic shame, exploring how internalised beliefs of unworthiness form through early caregivers and distort relationships
To learn more please see link here -
courses.danielasieff.com/store/arch-d...
When I interviewed Daniel Siegel for my first book, he talked about how rigidity and chaos contribute to mental suffering.
Do you notice yourself pulled more toward rigidity or chaos?
#DanielaSieff #DanielSiegel #TraumaHealing #EmotionalHealing #HealingJourney #SelfCompassion
I first read Sam Keen’s book more than twenty years ago. These words spoke to me then, and they still talk to me now. I return to them again and again – especially at the start of the year.
#DanielaSieff #SamKeen #ReflectiveInquiry #QuestionsThatMatter #InnerQuestions #SelfReflection
These words from Marion Woodman always strike a chord, and in particular, they come to mind as I approach the New Year and reflect on change.
“Change means change. Stark honesty, however painful, is needed... We must be willing to face many cruel truths”
#MarionWoodman
A brief message to wish you all the best over the holidays ✨
#DanielaSieff #TraumaHealing #ChristmasReflection #HolidayRealities #GentleChristmas #InnerPeace #EmotionalWellbeing #YouAreNotAlone #ChristmasAndEmotions #EndOfYearReflections
What if your “bad” feelings aren’t bad at all, but evolution’s way of protecting you? Shame, anxiety, and sadness may hurt - but they can also heal.
@randynesse.bsky.social has written about this in his brilliant book: “Good Reasons for Feeling Bad.”
#DanielaSieff #ShameHealing #TraumaHealing
Fear grabs us when danger is near, but some fear runs quietly in the background. Healing means bravely bringing these unconscious fears into awareness.
I explore this in my essay Fear Created by Trauma Often Operates Unconsciously - danielasieff.com/reflections-...
My niece Lottie asked, ‘How many cups of tea do you drink a day?’ Honestly… far too many. Whenever I get stuck writing, tea feels like the answer. My next book on chronic shame is basically fuelled by an alarming amount of tea! 🫖
#WritersLife #TeaLovers #BookWriting #AuthorLife #TeaTime
Working on my book about shame is reshaping how I see resilience. It’s not about bouncing back, but staying present with the pain we’ve avoided - and choosing responses that support growth.
#DanielaSieff #ShameHealing #TraumaRecovery #EmotionalResilience #HealingJourney #TraumaHealing
On World Kindness Day, I’m reminded: healing begins with self-compassion.
It took years to learn, but it changed everything.
#DanielaSieff #WorldKindnessDay #SelfCompassion #TraumaHealing #TraumaRecovery #HealingJourney #EmotionalHealing #InnerHealing #KindnessToYourself #OvercomingShame
Between cave and sky, Macfarlane finds a thin border.
Between light and shadow, so do we.
We slip between the conscious and the hidden self - sometimes gently, sometimes without warning.
#DanielaSieff #DepthPsychology #InnerJourney #ShadowWork #TraumaHealing #SelfDiscovery
Writing this book was so important for my own understanding, and I'm always deeply moved to know it contributes to others. Reviews like this mean so much.
#DanielaSieff #EmotionalHealing #InnerHealing #TraumaHealing #ShameAwareness #EmotionalTrauma #InnerGrowth #PersonalGrowth
The best part of writing?
When it’s done - and it actually says what I meant to say.
That click when the structure works, the ideas land, and I can think, Yes… that’s it!
#DanielaSieff #AmWriting #AmEditing #WritersLife #BookInProgress #AuthorsOfInstagram #NonfictionWriter #ChronicShame
We celebrate what is ‘up’: positivity, achievement, optimism. But in the psyche, as in the earth, the depths hold treasures too. Descent can bring understanding, transformation, and a different kind of light.
#DanielaSieff #DepthPsychology #InnerJourney #ShadowWork #TraumaHealing #SelfDiscovery
Today is World Trauma Day. Trauma shapes lives in unseen ways. The defences that once kept us safe can later hold us back, shutting out connection, growth & joy. Healing means not just dismantling walls, but building new resources to meet life as we are now.
#WorldTraumaDay #TraumaHealing
For World Mental Health Day, I’m sharing an excerpt from my conversation with Allan Schore. As he says, security isn’t automatic. It is something we build through lived experience, self-reflection, and nourishing relationships.
#DanielaSieff #AllanSchore #WorldMentalHealthDay
Imagination can be a lifeline, yet it can also become a prison. For many, retreating inward was once the only way to survive.
#DanielaSieff #Trauma #TraumaAwareness #TraumaHealing #EmotionalTrauma #MentalHealth
One of the themes I’m exploring in my upcoming book on chronic shame is how it takes root, how it distorts our sense of self, and how we can begin to loosen its grip.
#DanielaSieff #ChronicShame #ShameAwareness #ShameHealing #HealingFromShame #TraumaHealing #HealingJourney #EmotionalHealing