Crisis

• Introducing Shame Language to Clients by Brett Schur - Havertown, PA - bschur@msn.com, 3/12/96
  • idiosyncratic affect labels by Don Nathanson, 3/13/96
    
    

1) My suggestion is to call it "Crisis". I have made some flow diagrams showing negative stimuli coming into positive and the result being ‘Crisis’. I say that crisis is always around the corner. Feeling bad therefore is inevitable. We are interested this moment, and as we are at the mercy of the world, the next moment is a mystery and my impede that interest via negative stimuli. I then say ‘crisis’ certainly turns into ‘feeling bad’; and who wants to feel bad? Then we have three choices 1) stay with feeling bad 2) do something to cover up the feeling 3) or make a conscious choice to create something out of the ashes.

2) I have certainly found in my short time of doing this that the more ‘educated’ the person is the more resistant’. Obvious now but on the other hand the resistance is much greater than I thought. Most of my patients are poor working class and they immediately ‘get it’. Recently I have introduced the ideas to some friends and had some more educated patients at another office and therefore have been able to see this difference. Certainly with more exposure one is more circumspect but then is it being more circumspect? or do they just have more ammo to protect themselves from the pain?

3) I have also found it useful to talk of shame as the “floor” of the brain. We are biological beings, things hit us and must stop somewhere=Shame. The ball bounces back and usually before we can catch it we have processed it into something else.

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