Letting Go of Guilt : Giant Step to Freedom

Is letting go of guilt a stumbling block for you? How? Thinking differently, forgiving and accepting yourself as you are, sound great, but remain a top source of stress for many. (1) From people-pleasing to full out martyrdom, there is entirely too much hanging on to the damaging effects of guilt.

Women and Guilt

Professionals know that guilt and shame are issues for both men and women, research is showing that it is in fact, more of an obstacle for women.(2) What are the most commonly expereinced feelings?

- a lack of balance
- loss
- feeling responsible for problems of others
- heightened pain in seeing others suffer
- feeling you need to 'fix' things.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being 'hey - that is Me!', how would you reate yourself for the following terms?
1. hyper-responsible
2. hyper-conscientious
3. hyper-sensitive
4. immobilized
5. difficulty making decisions.
Does the above min-quiz give you cause to think that letting go of guilt may be one of your life obsatcles? This issue is deeply interspersed with negative, irrational beliefs about the 'self'. You may need the help of a professional counselor to fully rid yourself of the damaging effects. If this sounds like you, I recommend you at least have an assessment with a counselor.

Please feel free to visit our website for more on letting go of guilt, our 3 part series.

(1) I taught Psychology 101 at the college level in the 80's and 90's. Very little has changed, except... more and more counselors are using positive thinking phrases, the Sedona method and terms like law of attraction . For further examples of the principle of letting go of guilt, see the Canadian Mental Health Association's page re Letting go of Guilt strategies for Children and Family Breakup.

(2) See "The Spanish Journal of Psychology " Dr. I. Extebarria, Unversity of the Basque Country, Spain.