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.