high levels of shame resilience share these four elements: 1. They understand shame and recognize what messages and expectations trigger shame for them. 2. They practice critical awareness by reality-checking the messages and expectations that tell us that being imperfect means being inadequate. 3. They reach out and share their stories with people they trust. 4. They speak shame—they use the word shame, they talk about how they’re feeling, and they ask for what they need.