the phenomenology of shame in the clinical population: a qualitative study

Objective: shame is a multi-faceted self-conscious emotion which occurs when one considers themselves to not have fulfilled internalized societal standards and can be viewed as a social, psychological as well as a cultural phenomenon. the current study aimed to explore the lived experience of individuals receiving psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy.research methodology: the study used a qualitative research method and described, in-depth, what shame is and how it’s experienced from the participants’ point of view. the participants in the study were nine males and seven females who participated in an in-depth unstructured interview. data were analyzed based on the seven-step colaizzi’s method.findings: based on the findings of this study, eight themes of “physical reactions,” “accompanying emotions,” “making mistakes,” “other,” “being subject to judgment,” “blame,” “annihilation,” and “having a negative view of self,” in addition to three sub-themes of “incompetence,” “worthlessness” and “inadequacy” were common in the lived experience of individuals of shame. the resulting themes were explored and discussed.conclusion: the findings of this study can be used to develop shame assessment scales considering the iranian culture and to plan interventions that target these common themes.

the phenomenology of shame in the clinical population: a qualitative study

objective: shame is a multi-faceted self-conscious emotion which occurs when one considers themselves to not have fulfilled internalized societal standards and can be viewed as a social, psychological as well as a cultural phenomenon. the current study aimed to explore the lived experience of individuals receiving psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy.research methodology: the study used a qualitative research method and described, in-depth, what shame is and how it’s experienced from the participants’ point of view. the participants in the study were nine males and seven females who participated in an in-depth unstructured interview. data were analyzed based on the seven-step colaizzi’s method.findings: based on the findings of this study, eight themes of “physical reactions,” “accompanying emotions,” “making mistakes,” “other,” “being subject to judgment,” “blame,” “annihilation,” and “having a negative view of self,” in addition to three sub-themes of “incompetence,” “worthlessness” and “inadequacy” were common in the lived experience of individuals of shame. the resulting themes were explored and discussed.conclusion: the findings of this study can be used to develop shame assessment scales considering the iranian culture and to plan interventions that target these common themes.