Healing the Shame that Binds You is the most enduring work of family relationship expert and New York Times bestselling author John Bradshaw. In it, he shows how unhealthy toxic shame, often learned young and maintained into adulthood, is the core component in our compulsions, co-dependencies, addictions and drive to superachieve. While positive shame empowers us and sustains the fabric of our social system, inappropriate or misdirected shame results in the breakdown of our self-esteem, the destruction of the family system, and an inability to move forward with our lives. In an honest and emotionally revealing style based largely on his personal experience with addiction and his decades as a counselor, John Bradshaw moves from the source and manifestation of toxic shame to the practical tools-affirmations, visualizations, inner voice and feeling work, guided meditations, and other healing techniques-that will release the shame that binds us to our past.