Author Description

Left unchecked, shame is a force that de-humanizes individuals, families, churches, communities, and nations. David F. Allen, MD, MPH, an internationally recognized authority on addictions credited with identifying the coming crack cocaine epidemic as early as 1984, now sees a “shame epidemic.” Shame is not just at the center of substance abuse, it is at the center of anger, arrogance, family dysfunction, financial failure and broken relationships. Shame is the source of our self-destructive behaviors, those things we do not want to do, but feel compelled to do. Through personal stories from his professional practice as a psychoanalyst and his deep knowledge of the Scriptures, Dr. Allen lays out the scope and depth of shame. More importantly, he identifies “shame-busting” techniques that can be used in every day life to silence the shame voices that haunt us. Dr. Allen’s moving re-telling of biblical stories from King David and to the shame that Jesus Christ endured on the cross for our sake will give the reader hope. With deep compassion, a powerful intellect, his incarnational faith in God, thirty years of treating others and battling his own shame, Dr. Allen leads the reader away from shame and into the presence of “the Face that never turns away and the Love that never let’s us go.”