Date of Award
2022
Document Type
Doctoral Research Paper
Degree Name
Psy.D.
Organizational Unit
Graduate School of Professional Psychology
First Advisor
Laura Meyer
Second Advisor
Shelly Smith-Acuña
Third Advisor
Julie Cradock O’Leary
Keywords
Shame, Clinical psychology, Therapy, Eating disorders, Body image
Abstract
Shame–understood as a feeling in which one believes that they are inadequate, or wrong to their core–is a painful emotional experience that seems to be at the crux of many mental health concerns. Despite the pervasiveness of shame as an emotional experience, little research has demonstrated if shame is a clinical theme in therapy, and if so, how it is identified and treated. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore if, and how, shame manifests during therapy sessions with clients who are experiencing eating disorders and/or body image concerns. A secondary purpose was to discover how clinicians’ training addressed the topic of shame in their graduate training and whether there are gaps in that training that should be remediated.
Upon review of data, the researcher found six themes: differentiation of shame from guilt, nonverbal experiences of shame, exploration of shame influences, shame’s effect on quality of life, 5) shame’s absence from graduate coursework, and 6) a desire to include shame, trauma, and body-image training to graduate coursework. Additionally, from these interviews, the researcher identified four “special populations'' that may be especially shame-prone in the context of body shame, body image concerns, and/or eating disorders. These populations included: LGBTQ+ clients, perinatal and postpartum clients, clients who have experienced a trauma related to their body, and clients who acquired chronic and/or life-altering health conditions. Additionally, gaps in training were identified, and proposed areas of curriculum development are briefly explored. Strengths, limitations and future directions are addressed.
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Extent
43 pgs
Recommended Citation
Carroll Keeley, Tess, "“It’s Right Below the Surface”: Clinicians’ Experiences of Shame in Therapy Work with Adult Clients with Body Shame, Body Image Concerns, or Eating Disorder(s)" (2022). Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects. 447.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/capstone_masters/447