Shame-to-Compassion Worksheet

A client with ADHD who is a chief marketing officer stood up in front of the executive committee, misstated a key metric, was corrected publicly by the CFO, and then lost his train of thought for approximately thirty seconds before recovering. He has been replaying the moment for a week, has not spoken about it with anyone, and arrived at coaching with a practiced narrative about 'needing better preparation.' The practiced narrative is the defensive layer. The actual shame response is running underneath it and affecting his willingness to present in any forum since the incident.

Do not engage the prepared narrative first. Ask about the moment directly: 'You said you need better preparation. Before...