Chronic Shame and Clinical Frameworks for Dismantling it:
Friday, November 13th from 10 -3 pm EST

Shame, whether inherited, silently carried or arguably “deserved”, creates profound distress, disconnection, fragility, inaction and isolation. Its consequences do not only impact individual mental health and power dynamics in the counseling encounter; they also shape how systems such as families, communities and political organizations respond, repair and express attuned care.

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Join Phoenix Rosewood, PhD, LMHC, for a training that explores the

• assessment,

• neurobiology,

• wisdom,

• impacts,

• Integration and repair possibilities

of chronic shame in clinical counseling spaces.

 

Participants will engage applied theory and leave with tangible resources and tools to weave into their own praxis.

·       4 CEUs available

·       4 hours: 10:00 AM–3:00 PM EST, with 1 hour for lunch, November 13, 2026

·       $150 per person; additional $35 charge for CEUs*training pending approval with        MaMHCA

·       In person and online

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Abstract: The topic of ‘shame’ is not exactly one that invites people to want to know more. In fact, just reading and hearing the word ‘shame’ has been found to activate both hyper and hypo arousal in many people’s nervous systems. Discussing ‘shame’ can feel like the last place we want to expend our time and energy as clinicians and counselor educators. Yet, the experience of shame so frequently shows up in our clinical work, with clients (and ourselves!). When our clients’ shame is present, we need a specific skillset to effectively maintain the therapeutic relationship, attend to emergent power dynamics, ensure responsive and effective interventions and sit with them in tolerating the feelings that accompany the shame. 

 

We see shame associated with an array of client and family concerns: depression, anxiety, childhood sexual abuse, sexual trauma, PTSD, OCD, addictions, phobias, disordered eating, attachment-discrepancies in relationships. For many people, shame shows up in discussing sex, bodies, gender, living between cultures and worlds as a racial, ethnic and/or gender minority. From parenting and caregiving decisions to navigating neuro-normative, ableist systems as someone with neurocomplex and/or neurodivergent needs (ADHD, learning disabilities, autism), shame is often an unwelcome guest that has long overstayed their welcome. Shame directly contributes to familial and community violence and self-harm. Shame perpetuates cycles of unrepaired and in some cases, unrepairable ruptures and community-based cancellations, cutoffs and ostracization (and the dread or fear that accompanies being cast out ourselves). 

 

In the counseling and supervision room, we may experience shame as avoidance, over compliance and defensiveness or protectiveness from our clients and supervisees. At some point, we will all be tempted to collude with our clients’(understandable and protective) fragility and not say the thing that is needed, but that we know will cause discomfort or even a relational rupture. This is how our own shame comingles in our work with clients and we need self-reflexivity and tools to manage it when it emerges. Finally, shame is one of the primary obstacles in training counselors to attend to identity-based ruptures or microaggressions in the counseling room. If we endeavour to practice in a multiculturally-responsive, socially just manner, we cannot afford to avoid this topic in our own training.

 

Program Synopsis

This training explores shame as an embodied, relational and systemic experience that frequently enters counseling spaces before it has language. Drawing from trauma theory, interpersonal neurobiology, intersectionally-informed clinical practice and clinical experiences training future counselors, participants will consider how shame is assessed, metabolized, interrupted and integrated in ways that support both connection, meaningful repair opportunities and accountability.

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Presentation Format

The format will be trauma-aware, didactic, experiential, discussion-based, expressive-arts informed and self-reflexive. Participants will be offered multiple ways to engage, including observation, writing, drawing, small-group discussion, case formulation and structured role play. The training will include clear expectations, choice about level of participation, opportunities for grounding and movement, and no requirement to disclose trauma or personal history.

 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this training, participants will be able to identify common behavioral, relational, cognitive, emotional and physiological presentations of shame in counseling spaces; describe shame-aware assessment practices that attend to culture, identity, power and relational safety; explain trauma-informed and polyvagal-informed concepts that support regulation, choice and connection; recognize the wisdom and protective function of shame without reinforcing shame-based beliefs; and apply shame-aware interventions to case formulation, treatment planning, relational rupture and repair.

 

Comfort Considerations:

Light snacks will be provided, in addition to coffee, tea, water and seltzer throughout the day. The training will take place in proximity to many nearby restaurants and cafes in the event you choose to dine out.

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About Phoenix Rosewood, PhD, MA, LMHC

Dr. Phoenix Rosewood (they/them/theirs), LMHC, was clinically trained in community mental health counseling at Antioch University New England in Keene, NH. Phoenix has a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision and has been working in mental health, counselor education and applied research for over 15 years in a variety of settings. Currently, Phoenix operates a private practice and community training clinic, The Ruby Institute for Healing and Belonging, in Northampton, MA. The institute specializes in multiculturally-responsive, intersectionality-aligned trauma integration, counseling across the lifespan and developmentally- informed supervision.