Shame is a self-conscious emotion. Shame implies an internal state of inadequacy, unworthiness, dishonor, regret, or disconnection. Shame is also an implication that a person’s inner positive feeling is interrupted. There are many factors which trigger shame. For instance, failure to meet what a person needs can trigger shame, and so can low self-esteem. Shame leads to many side effects, and that is why there is a need for an intervention. One of the best ways to treat shame is through the application of interpersonal neurobiological theories, which is highly attached to attachment theories. These theories are cognitive oriented. The theories understand the aspect of shame as a failure of mind integration, which results in negative output in an individual. In this article, the aim is to understand how society can treat shame among adolescent through the use of interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theories.
Understanding Shame from Interpersonal Neurobiology and Attachment Perspective
Neurobiology is a theory that was coined by Daniel J. Siegel. The interpersonal neurobiology claims that human connectedness shapes the mental connections from which the mind come to exists. At the center of an interpersonal, neurobiology theory is the integration concept. By definition, Integration is the "linkage of different aspects of a system, whether they exist within a single person or a collection of individuals” (Siegel, 2007). Integration further involves the unity of different aspects of mental processes to each other. In this case, they include things such as thought with feeling and bodily sensation with logic. Treating an adolescent who is suffering from shame depends on understanding the mind from both the attachment and the interpersonal neurobiology perspectives ( Chitty, 2019). It also needs an understanding of the term shame from the viewpoint of attachment and interpersonal neurobiology approaches (Baldini et al., 2014). Besides, the attachment theory postulates that human beings have some specific forms of connectedness that bond them together. John Bowlby coined the theory in the late 60s. It claims that during the stages of development, a child forms an attachment to one of the caregivers that are close to him or her ( Porges, 2009). The link, according to different attachment theories, is mind-oriented and thus is the foundation of a child's psychological make-up. From this theory perspective, there is a pattern between a child and caregiver. This relationship develops because of the nature in which the brain develops and thus has a lifelong impact ( Porges, 2004).
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Shame is characterized by a sense of a belief that a person lacks what makes him or her worth as a human being. Shame alters the building blocks or the content of the brain. In this case, the mindset changes to believe that there is something wrong with a person’s personhood. Shame is thus a result of a form of avoidance attachment theory (Baldini et al., 2014). The avoidance attachment theory explains that Children with avoidant attachment traits tend to avoid parents and caregivers. This avoidance often becomes especially pronounced after a period of absence. Also, such avoidance becomes apparent in a situation where a child had faced abuse from the parents or the caregivers (Siegel, 2007). Implicit memory plays a critical role In this case. Implicit memory is those things that have a made a mark on somebody’s life, and the brain can trigger them at any state whether conscious or unconscious. In this sense, a child who has had experience abuse is capable of being fearful at the mention of the experience. Such an experience results from shaming. In this sense, shame is a form of brain toxic as it finds its roots from the fear, which is a limbic experience ( Siegel, 2007).
The brain building Block, Cortical functioning and brain integration
Shame is the product of brain integration as well as the structure of its content or the building blocks. As a result, treating shame from the approach of Neurobiology and attachment theories must begin by understanding how the brain content integrates to produce shame as an output. The process of shame in the brain is simple yet, a complicated procedure. There are situations where the feeling of guilt initiates early, frequent, and develop beyond repair. In this sense, a person tends to produce a cortical invariant representation. This cycle becomes complete at the limbic circuit when the cortex converges and manipulates the body, and this translates to shame ( Fishbane, 2007). The process initiate at the right-hemisphere of the limbic process in the neurology system. At this point, there is implicit memory that is housed by the structure called the Amygdala (Siegel, 2007). The Amygdala houses an implicit memory, which is the powerhouse of the behavior impulses which harbors the past experiences and perceptions. The repeat of the previous experience within the implicit memory clusters into the mental models and thus become easy to remember ( Siegel, 2007).
In case a teenager experiences a sense of rejection, neglect, or shunning, such signals transmit to neuroception, which is the genetic wiring for the neurobiological detection of the safety threat or danger to life. The powerhouse of the Amygdala understands such threats or risks and sends a message to the hypothalamus ( Fishbane, 2007). Hypothalamus, through its pituitary glands, will send neural throughout the body and brain, which will translate to the social interactions through a body process. The reaction is thus a response for resulting in a withdrawal experience, which is known as the shame ( Siegel, 2007). At this point, there is a critical role for the orbital medial prefrontal cortex, which is the center of arousal appraisal. For children, it is the main area for an attachment experience which modifies things such as shame in their lives.
Treatments of shame: A combination of Neurobiological, Attachment and Empathy Theories
The best way to treat guilt among adolescents is through therapies which target the interpersonal neurobiology. Therapy is a process which involves reactivating the attachment system. In a therapy session, the therapist tries to help the client rewire rational fears, which leads to shame ( Fishbane, 2007). In this case, it is better to understand an integral part of the brain and the implicit neural, which is the center to different experiences in a person’s life that translate to shame. The mind is thus the target in any therapy aiming to treat shame using any of the interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theories ( Cassidy, Jones & Shaver, 2013). In this case, the theory relies on the ability of the child o proves any stressful or traumatic event that leads to shame.
The treatment of shame through neural and attachment integration begins at the client attunement. At this moment, the goal is to understand or see the long integrative fibers of comfort extending into the Amygdala from the middle prefrontal cortex instead of seeing an isolated bundle of the neural nets holding fear ( Fishbane, 2007). In a situation where there is a bundle of neural of comfort traveling down to Amygdala, it brings with it soothing neurotransmitter GABA which provide a reassurance which translates to a rising depth of the connection in a person and thus reduces shame (Siegel, 2007).
At the same time, elements of attachment theories are critical in such therapy. In this sense, such elements enhance the development of the orbit frontal growth. It is through such developments that are enhanced by attachment theories that regulate the emotions in the life of a teen who is suffering from shame. In this sense, The OMPFC-amygdala circuit houses a highly complex social interaction in the brain. The attachment of the schema, the interpersonal affect –regulation, and the internal object comes to existence due to the social interaction as shaped by the Amygdala. At this moment, the schema attachment and the internal purposes allow social segments and thus translate to lack of fear and a lot of confidence in a person.
As already explained in the theory of the interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theories, the target to eliminate shame on teenage is the brain. The brain is the powerhouse of most of the interactions that take place, and this leads to the mind of developing fear or confidence. In this sense, there are critical parts of the brain that any clinical or therapeutic intervention to use interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theories must target to eliminate shame. The focus needs to be on the Hippocampus. Shame manifest through the creation of different experiences on a victim ( Cassidy, Jones & Shaver, 2013). These experiences include rejections with a sense of being worthless or having no value as a person. From the theory of the interpersonal neurobiology, Hippocampus should be the target to reduce the feeling of being unworthy in life. Hippocampus “is a small organ located within the brain's medial temporal lobe and forms an important part of the limbic system, the region that regulates emotions ( Siegel, 2007). The Hippocampus is associated mainly with memory, in particular, long-term memory. The organ also plays an important role in spatial navigation” (Fishbane, 2007). In a therapy where the target is to reduce the level of shame, Hippocampus becomes the target to overcome the belief of being inferior and the notion of fear. Hippocampus is particularly vital in this case because of the sensitivity of the stress of homes, which translate to the fear, safety, and calm (Baldini et al., 2014). As a teenager, there is need thus to creates an environment where there is an attachment between the child and the parents so that there is engaging hippocampus flexibility which results to a high rate of sense of safety.
The theory of empathy in a therapy
The theory of empathy relationship therapy is critical in reducing the degree of shame in a teenager. The theory of empathy integrates well with different theories of attachment and the neurobiology when dealing with a matter of shame for any patient of any age. Empathy is vital in the shame treatment process. "When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That's when you can get more creative in solving problems" ( Cassidy, Jones & Shaver, 2013). This theory aims to eliminate the concept of fear in somebody and replace such a notion with much-reformed notion such as that of the creativity, collaborating, negotiation, and feeling safe. Empathy aims to tie people together through an interpersonal relationship through which they will form an attachment. In life, people interact with each other on many occasions, which applies to children or teens too. During their schooling, they meet friends and interact with them in many ways. They also have a friend at home where they extend their interactions (Siegel, 2007). During their relationships, the neurobiology theory explains that there is an interaction between these individuals, which translate to empathy as they engage in conflicts and many other issues which translate to solving many problems. During such times, there is an attachment between people and thus translate to empathy. In this sense, there are cognitive empathy and emotional empathy. These are critical in treating shame at any age ( Siegel, 2007).
Cognitive empathy is about the mind and the bran. In this case, the therapist focuses on how the teen can understand the world in a different notion. In this case, the therapy tries to imagine what it would like to be in the teen’s side and tries to solve the problem based on such a perspective. Cassidy, Jones & Shaver (2013), claim that “With cognitive empathy, we are trying to tap into the idea of placing ourselves in someone else's situation and gaining a better understanding of his/her experience.” On the other side, Emotional empathy tries to share the emotion with the affected person. In this sense, the therapist must be willing to help the teen overcome his or her emotional situation that leads to shame. In both regards, the aim is to reinforce positive thinking so that individuals blanket a negative sense of shame. Empathy therapy thus enforces the feeling of being important and the feeling of being part of the people, and this is critical in increasing self-confidence ( Psychotherapy, 2009).
In both the attachment theory and the empathy theory, the aim is to attune the patient to begin the healing process intentionally. Note that, when a child or a patient feels ashamed, his or her insecure attachment is not attuned ( Porges, 2004). It is the reason why there must be an intentional attunement as the first step while undertaking attachment and empathy therapy to begin the healing process. In this sense, the aim is to “receive the patient’s inner feeling” that expose him or her to the notion of shame. The therapist, in this sense, tries to share the inner feeling with the patient so that they become one ( Cassidy, Jones & Shaver, 2013). The therapist must be mindful of the patient’s feeling and thoughts as well as the body to assure the patient that there is hope for a better time in their lives. In this sense, the patient will assume that there is a path which is favorable for them. It is at such a moment that the therapists must start the process of giving the patient his or her inner state concerning their situation, which is the empathy therapy ( Cassidy, Jones & Shaver, 2013).
In this sense, providing calmness instead of rage is critical for the healing process. The therapist must induce attentiveness instead of the shaming face. They need to introduce consistency instead of introducing erratic behaviors to help the kid. They need to create space for refuge to create a comfortable space for the kid. In this sense, they need to create an environment which is comfortable to the client ( Siegel, 2007). Also, the therapist must be ready to balance the session by introducing some forms of listening skills, which will enhance understanding between the two parties. The harmony that comes out of such an environment is enough to reverse the brain structure so that there is a positive impulse which enhances peace instead of shame. Such a situation needs to move the child from insecure attachment theory to the secure attachments theory (Baldini et al., 2014).In this sense, the therapists must be able to coax the positive attitude and be careful not to draw the negative side of the client as this increase provocation, which may lead to shame than peace. Though the interaction between the interpersonal neurobiology and the attachments is involved, the process is the best with regards to treating shame in such victims.
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