Shame is Not the Ticket to Our Best Future

Samantha Stein

According to the American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology, shame is defined as “a self-conscious emotion that arises from a sense of dishonor, immodesty, or indecorum in one’s own conduct or circumstances. Shame is a feeling of embarrassment about having done something wrong.” Most people understand shame to be a feeling that “there is something wrong with me” because I have erred.