Read on to learn how Janina Fisher teaches Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) techniques to support your work with clients experiencing shame and self-loathing in therapy.
It’s common to interpret clients’ negative beliefs about themselves as an indication of low self-esteem. But most trauma survivors are actually suffering from shame.
What Is the Difference Between Low Self-Esteem and Shame?
Scientific research on shame distinguishes it from low self-esteem. Here’s the difference:
- Low self-esteem is cognitive: we undervalue what we do and how we do it.
- By contrast, shame is a physical reaction that gets reinforced by negative beliefs we attach to it.
Repeated over and over again, these shame-based beliefs become the lens through which all later experiences are interpreted.
Join Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment Webinar by Dr. Janina Fisher
Helping Trauma Survivors Get Unstuck: A Fragmented Selves Approach in Therapy
In This NEW Janina Fisher Webinar you will learn:
How to understand perplexing clients using the TIST perspective so you can see the fragmented selves at work.
How to organize a treatment plan using the TIST model so you have an effective approach to care.
How TIST helps shift even the most stuck clients so they can finally make progress.
How to relieve your frustration and prevent burnout with more effective trauma treatment.
on April 4, 9-10am PDT / noon-1pm EDT / 5-6pm BST
A Janina Fisher Trauma Therapy Client Story…
Helen hated herself. Relentlessly self-critical, she would spend hours obsessing over all her ‘defects.’ During the pandemic, she had plenty of time for punitive self-reflection.
In therapy, anything positive — DBT skills, psychodynamic empathy, positive feedback — was met with resistance.
When it was time to return to work, Helen was convinced that everyone would know she was defective and ‘bad.’ After all that time isolated and alone with her shame, she contemplated suicide.
Parts Work in Trauma Therapy with Janina
Janina Fisher began talking to Helen about parts… specifically, a very critical part’s relentless attacks on her.
“I could see that it resonated,” Janina recalls.
Helen could feel the difference between the vulnerability of her young, ashamed part and the hardness of the critical part. She recognized her ’self-hatred’ as the critical part of herself determined to protect and silence a tender, traumatized part of herself.
As Helen observed their interaction, she could begin to see them both and understand how they felt.
How to Work with Shame and Trauma
Understanding how shame manifests in trauma survivors was essential for Janina because it allowed her to choose a highly effective intervention capitalizing on the neurobiology of shame.
You can learn how to do this, too, in our newest course Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) Introductory Webinar with Janina Fisher
Recovering from Shame in Pandemic Isolation
The events of the last three years have increased isolation worldwide. Many of our clients find themselves left alone with their shame.
Janina will teach you the mindfulness-based somatic approach she used with Helen. This approach addresses both shame-based beliefs and the body’s responses to negative beliefs. Once an individual can differentiate between shame responses, something powerful shifts.
What past students say about learning from Janina:
“Janina’s way of dialoguing with parts has proved to be invaluable. Sometimes the simplicity of just being with a part that has experienced rejection, rather than additionally inviting the part to “unburden” has been really useful.” — Paul Khosla
“My confidence and therapeutic skills have increased dramatically. It’s totally changed the way of me understanding myself and others — I don’t have as much shame.”
“It shed light to my own fragmentation…which has helped me in exploring my parts and how they operate. Professionally, it’s helped me better understand a little better how some of my clients’ psyche operates. The compassion piece is so important and so much easier to manifest when there is also understanding.” — Ana
“The practice sessions were truly invaluable for my practice. I learned so much about my strengths and growth areas through role-playing, watching others role-play, and hearing so much thoughtful guidance from our facilitator.” — Jon L.
“I am moved by Janina’s ability to present complex material in a clear and practical way. I appreciate her depth of knowledge, experience, and skills, as well as her warmth, generosity and presence. I love how she models how to work with clients with non-judgment and deep compassion. I feel her presence when I work with my clients. Thank you, Janina.” — Maureen Drage
“My approach to clients has shifted and I am much more confident in working with a wider range of presenting issues around complex trauma.“ — Michael Sobocinski
[Join Us] Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) Introductory Webinar with Janina Fisher
