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REVIEW ARTICLE

Self and shame in psychotherapy: Theoretical perspectives and clinical applications

Nihal Tutal1*
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1 Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Institute of Educational Sciences, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
JCBP, 025400077 https://doi.org/10.36922/JCBP025400077
Received: 1 October 2025 | Revised: 23 November 2025 | Accepted: 3 December 2025 | Published online: 12 December 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

This article examines the concepts of self and shame from different theoretical perspectives and discusses their functions in the context of psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, cognitive, schema, and Gestalt approaches are compared, with attention to how each framework conceptualizes shame and addresses it in therapeutic practice. The literature indicates that shame cannot be understood as a one-dimensional affect, but rather as a multilayered phenomenon operating across intrapsychic, cognitive, bodily, and relational domains. The originality of this work lies in framing shame not only as an inhibiting emotion but also as a transformative process that contributes to the repair and reconstruction of the self. Accordingly, the paper proposes that integrative and shame-informed approaches, which address self and shame in a holistic manner, represent a crucial requirement for clinical practice.

Keywords
Self
Shame
Therapeutic relationship
Psychotherapy
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no conflict of interest.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing
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