skip navigation

Not in the United States?
change your preferences.

Shame, Guilt, and Alcoholism

Treatment Issues in Clinical Practice, Second Edition

• By Ron Potter-Efron, Bruce Carruth

• Price: $24.95
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Pages: 256
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 18th June 2002
• ISBN: 978-0-7890-1517-4

About the Book

Explore the causes and effects of the shame/guilt/addiction cycle!

Since the original edition in 1989, great strides have been made in understanding the overlapping functions of shame and guilt and the ways these painful emotions are linked with addictions. Shame, Guilt, and Alcoholism: Treatment Issues in Clinical Practice, Second Edition, integrates up-to-date psychological research with penetrating insight into the emotional realities of substance abuse. It provides a clear and practical model for understanding the shame/guilt/addiction cycle.

Shame, Guilt, and Alcoholism provides constructive suggestions to therapists for treating substance-abusing clients and their affected family members. By treating destructive, inappropriate, or excessive shame and guilt, therapists can help their clients free themselves from the downward spiral of addiction and begin to build on their genuine strengths. It explores the positive functions of shame and guilt, describes the conscious and subconscious defense mechanisms against them, and highlights the crucial family behaviors that initiate and encourage shame and guilt.

Shame, Guilt, and Alcoholism thoroughly explains the significant differences between shame and guilt, including:

• clients’experiences of failure
• primary responses and feelings
• precipitating events and involvement of self
• origins and central fears
  
  Shame, Guilt, and Alcoholism adds immeasurably to our understanding of the total recovery process. It is an essential resource for therapists, social workers, psychologists, substance-abuse counselors, and educators in the field.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Overview: Shame, Guilt and Alcoholism
• Introduction and Definitions
• Four Basic Distinctions Between Shame and Guilt
• Chapter 2. Models of Shame and Addiction
• Introduction
• The Disease Model of Addiction
• Self Psychology
• Affect Theory
• Family Systems Model
• Functional Theory
• Chapter 3. Shame, Vulnerability, and the Four Spheres of Self
• Introduction
• The Presentation Self
• The Defensive Self
• The Comparative (Evaluative) Self
• Shame Waves, Cycles, and Spirals
• The Core Self
• Chapter 4. Defenses Against Shame
• Introduction
• Withdrawal
• Denial
• Dissociation
• Projection
• Perfectionism
• Arrogance
• Shamelessness and Exhibitionism
• Rage
• Addiction As a Secondary Defense Against Shame
• Chapter 5. Guidelines for the Treatment of Shame
• Introduction
• Treatment Guidelines
• Chapter 6. The Treatment of Shame with Alcoholic Clients
• Introduction
• The Linkages Between Shame, Alcoholism, and Addiction
• Guidelines for the Treatment of Shame Issues with Alcoholic or Addicted Clients
• Chapter 7. Adaptive and Maladaptive Guilt As Related to Addiction
• Adaptive Guilt and Addiction
• Maladaptive Guilt and Addiction
• Defenses Against Guilt
• Guilt and Addiction
• The Guilt-Alcoholism Cycle
• Chapter 8. The Treatment of Guilt—General Considerations
• Introduction
• Suggested Sequence for the Treatment of Guilt
• Guidelines for the Treatment of Guilt
• Chapter 9. The Treatment of Guilt with Alcoholic or Addicted Clients
• Introduction
• The Role of Adaptive Guilt in Recovery
• Guidelines for the Treatment of Guilt Issues with Alcoholic or Addicted Clients
• Chapter 10. Common Shame and Guilt Themes in Families Affected by Alcoholism or Addiction
• Introduction
• Transferred Shame or Guilt
• Helping Recovering Persons Face Their Shame and Guilt
• Chapter 11. Alcoholics Anonymous, Shame, and Guilt
• Introduction
• Alcoholics Anonymous and Shame
• The Recovering Alcoholic As a Responsible Member of the Community
• Chapter 12. Creative Approaches to Shame and Guilt: Helping the Adult Child of an Alcoholic
• Introduction
• Definitions of Guilt and Shame
• Approaches to Be Used
• Creative Methods for Dealing with Shame
• Guilt in Adult Children of Alcoholics
• Creative Methods for Dealing with Guilt
• Conclusion
• Chapter 13. References
• Index