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    The Core of Shame

    "At the core of chronic shame is an absence- the absence of connectedness (DeYoung, p.120). Affective interactions between a child and caretaker shape the brain over a lifetime. When the primary caregiver is emotionally attuned and connected, the child feels understood and secure. When the caregiver has a pattern of being absent or intrusive, the child suffers what relational psychotherapist Patricia DeYoung refers to as "profound misattunement to their young affective/emot