Connection

The Tribe — Why Belonging is a Clinical Need

The tribe is not a metaphor. Human beings evolved as social animals whose psychological and physiological regulation depended on belonging to a group. The absence of genuine connection is a significant clinical risk factor.

“Human beings need their tribe — need people around them where they feel connected and feel a part of. If you are not connected, if you don’t have a tribe, you are in danger psychologically, mentally.” — Philippe Jacquet

What is Shame — and How Does Therapy Help?

Shame is the painful belief that the self — not just an action, but the whole person — is fundamentally defective, unworthy, or unlovable. Unlike guilt, which responds to behaviour, shame responds to existence.

Guilt versus shame

Guilt says: I did something wrong. It points at a specific action and motivates repair. Shame says: I am something wrong. It points at the self. Because the self cannot be corrected in the same way an action can, shame tends to persist beneath the surface of everything.