This is How Positive Change Happens…
As one of my trainers in ISTDP, Dr Patricia Coughlin, puts it, “guilt is the most misunderstood emotion”. We tend to have so much reactivity to our emotion of guilt. For example, we tend to get it confused with shame. Or we get it confused with harsh judgement and punishment. Or some people get puffed up and defensive and try to deny its existence entirely. These reactions to guilt get in the way of the incredible value of this primary emotion.
When we build our capacity to open up to our guilt and bear its pain, it’s a healing experience for ourselves and often, for others too. Our emotion of guilt is connected to our conscience, to our empathy, to our care, to our love. It keeps us in check. Guilt mobilizes us to treat others well and to reach out to offer repair when we inevitably make mistakes. 
