Daniela F. Sieff, PhD
I am a writer, speaker, and scholar who has spent over 25 years exploring how trauma and chronic shame shape our inner world, how healing takes root, and what healing really means.
I draw on several perspectives, including evolutionary thinking, depth psychology, and lived experience, combining scholarly rigour with emotional depth. I strive to communicate with clarity, turning complex ideas into insights that foster understanding, compassion, and change.
About me and my approach
I have always been curious about what makes us who we are. In my twenties and thirties, I turned to evolution for answers, carrying out fieldwork with traditional cattle herders in Tanzania for my doctorate in biological anthropology at Oxford University. Then I turned that curiosity inward, exploring the causes, consequences, and healing of emotional trauma and chronic shame.
These strands have come together, and today my work draws on evolutionary research, anthropology, depth psychology, and personal experience. It blends academic knowledge with the insight and compassion gained from exploring my own inner world. I name difficult truths and honour emotional complexity.
Rather than offering simple answers, my work invites people to be curious about their own inner worlds and those of others. It also encourages reflection that opens the door to healing and change.
In 2015, I published Understanding and Healing Emotional Trauma, a book featuring in-depth conversations with pioneering thinkers. I am currently writing a book about shame—an often overlooked emotion that profoundly shapes our sense of worth and our relationships. It explores what shame evolved to do, how it becomes chronic and corrosive, and how we can begin to emerge from its grip.
My work speaks to a broad audience: people navigating their own experiences of trauma and shame, mental health professionals seeking deeper insight, and those who want to understand the human psyche with greater depth and compassion.
What I Offer
My work explores chronic shame, trauma, and the relationship between them. I am particularly interested in how they trap us in cycles of suffering, and in what healing and wellbeing look and feel like. I also explore what Jungian psychology calls the Archetypal Death Parent, as well as the evolutionary roots of maternal hostility.
I write books, articles, and essays. I also give in-person presentations, host webinars, and offer on-demand courses. Across these formats, I share what I have learned and continue to learn.
I use both words and diagrams to give form to experiences that are often hidden, emotionally tangled, and hard to articulate—bringing structure to what can feel unformed or overwhelming.
Whether I am addressing clinicians, researchers, or individuals exploring their own inner landscapes, I aim to offer depth without jargon and clarity without oversimplification.
I have delivered keynote presentations at a diverse range of institutions, including the Royal College of Psychiatry, the Jung Institute’s Summer Odyssey and the Compassionate Mind Foundation.
If you are curious to explore more, you are warmly invited to visit the resources and presentations section of this website or sign up for my free newsletter to stay connected with my work.
Webinar Testimonials
My Book
Understanding and Healing Emotional Trauma explores how emotional trauma is created, how it is experienced, and how it can be healed—drawing on multiple disciplines and ways of knowing.
It features ten in-depth interviews with leading clinicians, researchers, and thinkers in conversations that are both accessible and engaging.
Marion Woodman, Donald Kalsched, Tina Stromsted, and Bruce Lloyd offer perspectives rooted in depth psychology. Allan Schore, Daniel Siegel, and Ellert Nijenhuis bring a neurobiological lens. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Randolph Nesse, and James Chisholm provide evolutionary insight.
I chose the interviewees not only because they are leaders in their fields, but also because their work had personally affected me. Their ideas helped me make sense of my experience, gave me hope, and opened pathways toward healing, and so I wanted to share them with others.
This book is for anyone who wants to understand how trauma shapes us and what it takes to heal. Whether you are a clinician helping others, navigating your own trauma, or simply curious, this book offers insight into emotional suffering and the inner work of transformation.
