The next ‘Nghidu Kelma’ seminar was held on the topic, ‘Understanding Shame Issues’. Shame is defined as the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another. H. Lewis, 1971 stated that shame, like guilt and embarrassment, involves negatively judging ourselves when we believe we’ve failed to live up to either our own standards or the standards of other people. Furthermore, shame is the inner experience of being “not wanted”; it is feeling worthless, rejected, and cast-out. In Maltese, we do not have a literal translation for the word ‘shame’; the words closest in meaning would be ‘shyness’, ‘dishonour’, ‘degradation’, ‘humiliation’, and ‘disgrace’. However, the expressions are more descriptive and, literally translated, one can actually visualise the meaning – “My face fell to the ground”, “My face turned red”, “I wanted to disappear”, “I crawled into my skin” and others.
This seminar focused on grasping a better understanding of the theme of shame, learning how to live with it or overcome it, and perhaps even use it to our advantage. The speaker during this seminar was Ms. Angele Licari, a Gestalt Psychotherapist who draws on her experience of working in the counselling field for the past thirty years. She has a background of training in the psychodynamic tradition and works with individuals, couples and groups.
