The burden of guilt and how to overcome it

Guilt can be a good thing — especially when we’ve acted against our values or caused harm to someone else. In those cases, the remedy is clear: apologize.

But there’s another kind of guilt that’s far more pernicious and debilitating — the kind that shadows nearly everything we do, leaving us overly responsible for other people’s judgments and emotions.

Our guest, psychiatrist Jennifer Reid, says women are especially vulnerable to this excessive form of guilt, particularly when anything short of perfection seems unacceptable.

She joins us this week to explore where these unreasonable expectations come from, how guilt can pull us away from our deeper emotional truths, and what it takes to finally give ourselves a break — when good enough really is good enough.

Jennifer Reid’s new book is Guilt Free.