International Forum of Psychoanalysis

Understanding the characteristics of survivor guilt, as differentiated from shame, can help therapists recognize and respond therapeutically to survivors' experiences of guilt. This paper describes characteristics of guilt derived from empirical research. Feeling guilty after surviving trauma involves: feeling as if one is a bad person; feeling lost and out of place; feeling that one is responsible for the trauma, which is viewed as a violation of the moral order; desiring to set things right; maintaining a sense of control with the conviction that one could have done something; maintaining a sense of order and predictability; maintaining one's sense of loyalty to and connection with injured others; and highlighting the value of forgiveness and reconciliation. A patient's experience of survivor guilt provides illustration of these characteristics. Principles for therapeutic interventions are presented.

Altered Self and Altered Self Experience, 2014

Although there has been much discussion regarding shame and guilt, not enough has been said about the complexities of the relationship between the two. In this paper, I examine one way in which I take shame and guilt to interact – namely in cases of so-called “survivor’s guilt” among victims of trauma. More specifically, I argue that survivor’s guilt may represent a kind of response to feelings of shame – one which is centrally tied to the central philosophical notions of autonomy and integrity.

Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 2017

The present study explores the relationship between guilt, sense of control, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Seventyeight participants who had experienced a traumatic event completed the following self-report measures online: the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, the Guilt Cognitions subscale of the Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory, the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory, and Sense of Control During the Trauma. Results revealed that "behavioral selfblame" that refers to functioning during the trauma, positively correlated with posttraumatic stress symptoms. However, when Sense of Control During the Trauma was introduced into the analysis, this correlation appeared only for participants who had experienced lack of control during the traumatic event. Among the participants who had experienced a sense of control, no such link was found. Results suggest that guilt may be produced to avoid feelings of helplessness following the trauma, because guilt conveys a sense of control.

describes the fundamentals and benefits of survivor mindset. Referencing expert trainers in paramilitary and emergency response, the course builds on neurocognitive mechanisms previously discussed and reviews current mindfulness-based treatments. The essay provides a brief review of the stages of grief and explore survivor’s guilt. It concludes with a discussion of the negative behavioral patterns and abusive manifestation of grief.

International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 2023

The aim of this paper is to explore the theoretical and clinical features of burdening guilt according to control-mastery theory (CMT), an integrative, relational cognitive-dynamic theory of mental functioning, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. CMT posits that burdening guilt stems from the belief that one's emotions, needs, and way of being are a burden to significant others. After having introduced some research data about the belief of being a burden to others, we will point out how CMT explains this belief in light of a coherent theory of development, emphasizing its connection with early traumatic or adverse experiences with caregivers that give rise to the formation of pathogenic beliefs. These beliefs are mostly unconscious, and influence the way people make sense of themselves and their reality, giving rise to symptoms, inhibitions, and maladaptive personality traits that obstruct the achievement of healthy and adaptive goals. We will then compare burdening guilt with omnipotent responsibility guilt and self-hate, highlighting the points of contact and the differences between these types of interpersonal guilt. Subsequently, we will point out the "double nature" of burdening guilt, describing how it represents both a self-blame for what one is, and the expression of the need to take care of important others. Finally, we will propose a clinical vignette to illustrate some manifestations of burdening guilt in the therapeutic context.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1989

The present study explored the differences between male and female Holocaust survivors (n = 34) and controls (n = 34) who were similar to the survivors but had not been victims of the Holocaust Half of the respondents were from the city and the other half were from the Kibbutz. The main dependent measures included the CAQ, the TSCS, and a specially designed Centrality of Family scale. Survivors were worse off psychologically than comparison individuals on the quality of emotional life, on emotional expression, and on the quality of interpersonal relations. Also, survivors assigned relatively greater value to their postwar families. City survivors seem to be worse off than Kibbutz survivors, and male survivors from the city had the lowest scores on several key subscales. These data were corroborated and extended by a content analysis of an open-ended interview conducted after the objective measures had been completed. The findings and their implications for understanding the effects of massive traumatization over individuals' life cycles are discussed. After the Second World War, mental health professionals coined the term survivor's syndrome to define the psychopathology that afflicted survivors of the Holocaust (Krystal, 1968; Meerioo, 1963). Past discussions of this syndrome have noted changes in survivors' quality of emotional life, interpersonal relations, and functioning as spouses and parents. Reports on survivors' quality of emotional life have noted a chronic sense of anxiety (e.g., De Graaf, 1975) and depressiveness (e.g., Niederland, 1968)aswell as feelings of guilt (Chodoff, 1986). This guilt (Klein, 1973) has been linked to other phenomena like the difficulty of survivors (Krystal, 1968) and their descendants (Nadler, Kav-Venaki, & Gleitman, 1985) to externalize aggression. Difficulties in emotional expression (e.g., Danieli. 1982; Kav-Venaki, Nadler, & Gershoni, 1985), which may explain the high frequency of psychosomatic complaints (e.g., Eitinger, 1972), have also been noted.

The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 2019

The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist

This article outlines a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approach to treating feelings of guilt and aims to be a practical ‘how to’ guide for therapists. The therapeutic techniques were developed in the context of working with clients with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, the ideas can also be used when working with clients who do not meet a diagnosis of PTSD but have experienced trauma or adversity and feel guilty. The techniques in this article are therefore widely applicable: to veterans, refugees, survivors of abuse, the bereaved, and healthcare professionals affected by COVID-19, amongst others. We consider how to assess and formulate feelings of guilt and suggest multiple cognitive and imagery strategies which can be used to reduce feelings of guilt. When working with clients with a diagnosis of PTSD, it is important to establish whether the guilt was first experienced during the traumatic event (peri-traumatically) or after the traumatic event...

in T Brudholm & J Lang (eds), Emotions and Mass Atrocity: Philosophical and Theoretical Perspectives. Cambridge University Press, 2018

Shame, especially the so-called " survivor shame, " is one of the central emotions associated with the plight of genocide survivors and victims of atrocities. In our contribution, we will examine the experiential and ethical aspects of shame, and argue that any attempt to understand the shame of victims and survivors will require a careful differentiation between varieties of shame, on the one hand, and the temporality of these phenomena, on the other. Furthermore, we suggest that a good way to shed light on survivor shame is conceiving it as a non-uniform process unfolding over time.

Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 1998