Publications Announcement by Daniel Shaw (USA)

Shame and Self-Alienation: A Trauma-Informed Psychoanalytic Perspective

(2023). Psychoanalytic Inquiry, DOI 10.1080/07351690.2023.2226021.

Self-alienation is an expression of deeply internalized shame. The self-alienated individual feels trapped, imprisoned by shame. Psychotherapy patients with significant relational trauma typically reveal a persistent internal battle against self-doubt, self-condemnation, and often self-loathing. They are referencing shameful fears and beliefs about themselves born from problematic attachment and developmental experiences. The author provides illustrations of work with self-alienated individuals integrating psychoanalytic principles with concepts from contemporary traumatology, with a focus on helping patients develop self-compassion as the chief agent of therapeutic healing and growth.

https://www.routledge.com/authors/i21146-daniel-shaw
(free copy can be downloaded by scrolling down to “Articles”)

The Role of Shame in Cults, From Recruitment to Recovery

(2023). Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 33(6): 779 -795.

Understanding the traumatizing narcissist’s relational system of subjugation is an important aspect of cult recovery work, for both therapist and cult survivor. The author describes the role of shame in the psychology of the traumatizing narcissist and explains how shame is implicated in cult recruitment, in maintaining cult loyalty, and in the challenges of cult recovery. Cult survivors often resist self-referring for psychotherapy for fear they will not be understood. This paper seeks to raise awareness within the psychoanalytic community of the relational dynamics between cult leaders and followers, and of some of the central struggles for those recovering from cult-related trauma. The paper is discussed by Sandra Buechler and Shlomit Yadlin-Gadot, to whom the author responds.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10481885.2023.2263056

Daniel Shaw, LCSW
New York, NY, USA
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