Toxic Shame Scan Chart
by Rebecca Baldwin

Laminated, Double Sided A4 desk chart

While shame has a constructive use for us as human beings, toxic shame is shame that is internalised in such a way that it mistakenly becomes our primary identity.

The deeply embedded belief that can be summarised as “I am bad”, creates a deeply trapped emotion and the necessity for a false self, a syndrome that allows us to escape being defective and cover up our shame. It is this false self that disconnects us from our authentic selves.

Toxic shame is one of the sources of long-term survival stress. It will continue to sabotage our lives until we are able to release and resolve it. Like most aspects of ourselves, until we are able to uncover it and become aware of it, it can remain out of our reach. Shame can be felt from as early as 15 months, but possibly earlier.

Unresolved toxic shame is intergenerational and is handed down from our parents and ancestors. It is a deeply rooted and complex emotion and often shame collages are formed intermeshing the different types of shame, and shaming experiences which compounds them and makes them even more difficult to pull apart, understand and resolve.

This chart provides the framework and language to use to help clients explore the different aspects of their shame, and to explore any deeply embedded shame collages.

The Toxic Shame Scan Chart covers:

• Definitions of Shame and Toxic Shame
• The Shame Spectrum and Paradigms of Shame
• Dynamics and Syndromes of Shame

This chart is extracted from the workshop titled “Reframe Your Shame” which is part of the “Self Leadership Series” run by Rebecca Baldwin. It makes a great addition to your kinesiology tool kit.