Reviews

Unlearning Shame: How We Can Reject Self-Blame Culture and Reclaim Our Power by Devon Price

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catnipdream's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

I went into this like “yeah yeah I know this” but the way Price lays it all out has really stuck with me and actually has helped me notice when shame comes up in my life and what to do about it.
In the time I read this book I:
-confided in a friend about a shameful experience I had been embarrassed to talk about and received a lot of love
-realized I want to talk with more people about my shame so I started going to a peer support group
-have a better idea of what my desires may be and starting to move away from “ugh that’s so cringe I can’t do that”

This books is also wonderfully anarchic and talks a lot about communal based approaches vs hyper individualism. If you are caught up in the activist/organizing/mutual aid sphere and approaching burnout you could probably find some benefit here.

FWIW: I am an autistic queer weirdo and that lines up a lot with the authors experience. I can’t say how much it would help folks outside of that experience but I think it’s worth checking out.

dog_e_dog's review against another edition

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hopeful informative

4.5

han_reardonsmith's review against another edition

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5.0

Honestly, everything Dr Devon Price writes is powerful balm for the “former gifted child” like myself, and I have learnt so much from their previous books about my neurodiversity, embracing my limitations and weirdness, my queerness and transness and disabilities, and finding actual joy in my life. Even so, this book reached all new levels of making all parts of me feel powerfully seen and valued. I’ve done a LOT of therapy (and continue to), but this book makes a lot of my lingering pains make more sense and I have clarity on how to work with them. I also have insight on how to approach challenges in community organising and activist work, and on how to avoid turning to shame as a tool of control when I feel powerless. Thank you Dr Price, this is something folks like me need so much, and thank you for not separating the reality of the present aka “politics” from psychology.