An effect of trauma
Shame
Not guilt about something you did. Shame about who you are. The bone deep conviction that you are fundamentally flawed, defective, unlovable, or not enough. That if people really knew you they would leave. That you are different from other people in a way that cannot be fixed. Core shame is almost always the result of how you were treated, not evidence of who you actually are.
Core shame feels like a fact about you, and it is actually a message delivered to you, repeated until it sounded like your own voice. Messages have senders. Tracing yours back to where it came from is how it starts to lose authority, and hearing your worst belief about yourself met with recognition instead of confirmation is where these rooms do their best work.
It can sound like
If any of those sentences live in your head too, you are in good company here.
Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and nothing here decides what is wrong with you, because nothing is wrong with you. Something happened to you. This page exists so that when you are ready, you can find people who understand it from the inside.
You do not have to carry this alone.
Bridge of Hope Recovery is a free, anonymous, peer-led fellowship for trauma survivors. Meetings run throughout the week by phone, by video, and in person. No cost, no waitlist, no one asking for your real name.