The Drama of Shame

Abstract

This paper gives an account of three training workshops using dramatherapy techniques and subsequent conversations with participants on the phenomenon of shame. It gives an overview of shame from a psychological, socio-cultural, psychotherapeutic and dramatherapeutic perspective before giving a reflective account of the workshop experience. Although not intended to be a piece of formal research, our journey was rooted in a phenomenological enquiry: exploring the group's subjective experience and the meaning we create from this. The authors premise is that shame is experienced when early relationships are disrupted and become mis-attuned and that dramatherapy has a unique role to play in the exploration and recovery from the shame-based experience.