Breaking Free of the Shame Trap: How Women Get Into It, How Women Get Out of It

BREAKING FREE OF THE SHAME TRAP is a book women have been waiting for, one that empowers us to move beyond the shame we have carried for generations. Instilled at a young age, shame is a painful but familiar companion to every woman who has ever felt criticized or rejected. Written by a marriage and family therapist, this insightful book provides the tools every woman needs to regain her self-respect. With powerful case histories, insight, and compassion, the book explores:

* The crucial differences between male shame and female shame in our

society

* The relentless critic inside many women--and ways women can free

themselves from it:

* The sometimes-invisible traps society has devised to keep women

without power and full of shame, and more. The author reveals why so many women undermine themselves and experience such problems as low self-esteem, depression, addiction, and eating disorders. She explores the myths that society uses to shame women, arguing that many modern psychological labels (such as codependency) actually further shame in women by devaluing our fundamental selves. Additionally, Evans shows how our cultural obsession with beauty, youth and thinness further make women feel as if they are "never enough." BREAKING FREE OF THE SHAME TRAP offers a comprehensive checklist of symptoms, plus specific strategies to help women free themselves from this destructive emotion.