A Story of Self-Stigma, Shame, and a New Direction with Self-Compassion

An adult brunette woman in a white blouse looks at herself in the mirror.

What is stigma? Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary defines stigma as “a mark of shame or discredit: STAIN.” WISE addresses 3 types of stigma: social stigma, structural stigma, and self-stigma. Do you ever have this feeling? If you only knew this “bad thing” about me (whatever that might be), you wouldn’t This is shame in action. And […]

Challenging Our Negative Self-Talk

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In this post, we want to share an empowering strategy taught in WISE’s Honest, Open, Proud program. For more information about HOP, click here. It is called the 5 step strategy for challenging our hurtful self-talk. Hurtful self-talk is a form of internalized stigma or shame, which occurs when we come to believe the negative, […]

Mindfulness and Mental Health

Close-up of a man meditating.

At WISE, we talk a lot about the importance of self-care, or the providing of care by you and for you, and its importance in improving your compassion resilience, or CR, and maintaining your overall well-being. Click here to read WISE’s previous post about self-care. One common form of self-care that is practiced cross-culturally is […]

Compassion Resilience: A Path to Wellness

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In August’s post, we “pounced” on the subject of compassion fatigue and its harmful path by illustrating Eric Gentry’s research with the help of some cats. Need a reminder? Review it here. Compassion fatigue can result in feelings of depression, anxiety, sadness, exhaustion, and irritation. Knowing what compassion fatigue looks like is key in understanding […]