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Who am I, and what are we exploring here?

My name is Carolyn Cowan. I am an embodied trauma therapist, a published author, and several decades clean and sober from drugs and alcohol. I will write, and in videos, explore your relationship to and with your shame.

I spent many years of my younger life in battle with my mind, my history and my perception of my identity. Getting clean and sober at 31, in 1991, started me on a journey to understanding the effects of a tall, dark history - my euphemism for trauma - on the brain and body.

Initially, I did this for myself. Now, I have been a psychotherapist in private practice for many years and have published a book Shame… The Path Out of Hell. Underlying all of my words is a deep and abiding love for stillness, the calm after a lifetime of the storm of living in and with shame.

We are all living in accelerated times, orgasmic, longing for more, more, more. More money, more violence, more TikTok, more Amazon, porn, food, more anything. It no longer seems to matter what it is, as long as it is more something.

All of the above, plus the seemingly relentless march towards the end of the world, is taking a huge toll on mental health.

There are concepts in Shame The Path Out of Hell to understand, which I hope to explain. There are practical tools that you can take on that can make a huge difference to your compulsions, addictions and anxieties and so, your shame.

My goal here is the same as it has always been: to calm down, learn to still the mind. I invite you to step away from the identity created by your negative history and heal your shame.

I intend to post twice weekly, and once month to send out a newsletter containing all the most recent posts.

I hope your interest in taking a personal and active approach to your mental health will encourage you to join me in this journey.

Carolyn

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