RISE 2026 - Shame & Self-Acceptance

RISE 2026 - Shame & Self-Acceptance is a gentle, transformative six-week journey designed to help you release the weight of toxic shame and reconnect with the truth of who you are. Running from 8 September to 13 October 2026, every Tuesday from 7:00–8:30pm BST, this programme offers a deeply supportive space to understand your shame stories, explore how they were formed, and begin rebuilding a relationship with yourself rooted in compassion, dignity, and authenticity.

You’ll begin by unpacking what shame truly is—how it differs from guilt or embarrassment, where it comes from, and the effect it has on your body, emotions, and sense of self. This first week helps you name and understand the experiences that taught you to see yourself as “not enough,” not with judgement, but with clarity and kindness.

From there, you’ll explore your shame triggers and patterns: the moments that send you into spirals of self-criticism, the defence strategies you developed to protect yourself, and how shame quietly shapes your relationships, communication, and emotional safety. This week brings light to experiences that often stay hidden in silence.

The programme then gently guides you into exploring body shame and self-image—looking at the messages you absorbed about your appearance, worth, and identity without promoting any harmful ideals. You’ll learn how diet culture and external expectations influenced your self-perception, and you’ll be supported to move toward body neutrality, compassion, and a more grounded relationship with yourself.

In Week 4, you’ll explore how cultural, family, and societal expectations contribute to shame—particularly around identity, gender roles, class, and the stories you were taught to live by. This is an empowering week that helps you understand how much of your internal narrative wasn’t yours to carry in the first place.

Building shame resilience becomes the focus next. Drawing on Brené Brown’s work, you’ll learn how vulnerability becomes courage, how empathy dissolves shame, and how being witnessed in your truth can restore connection to yourself and others. You’ll explore ways to gently speak shame out loud so it no longer has power over you.

Your journey ends with a week dedicated to radical self-acceptance—embracing your whole self, including the parts that were once hidden or rejected. You’ll learn integration practices, participate in a closing ritual, and leave with tools to continue living authentically and wholeheartedly, long after the programme ends.

Best for: Women struggling with body image or self-worth, those living with perfectionism, people who hide parts of themselves to feel accepted, anyone carrying cultural or family shame, women tired of performing or people-pleasing, and anyone seeking deeper authenticity and self-acceptance.