Hello, how are you?
I realise I have been a bit quiet recently, I have been busy working away behind the scenes. I am still busy working with clients over the phone and over Zoom but I have also been expanding my experience by registering to do some work for an excellent bereavement service called GriefChat (see here www.griefchat.co.uk), and expanding what I am able to offer by doing some CPD (Continuing Professional Development - courses).
One such course was on Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) - This was an amazing course and I can now offer all clients this therapy either on its own or combined with any of the other therapies I offer.
What is CFT? I hear you cry Well, surprisingly, it is all about compassion!
Compassion is
...' a sensitivity to the suffering of self and others (and its causes), with a commitment to relieve and prevent it'.
Having compassion for yourself (and others) means you are able to see and feel the way you are feeling – even if it is difficult – and are able to understand why you feel this way, before bringing understanding, kindness and acceptance to who you are right now, the wonderful imperfect person you are. It is about seeing you how you are, not who you want to be, and not with criticism or judgement, but understanding that you are who you are and there is learning in your mistakes and that those mistakes do not make you a bad person. It is about giving yourself understanding when you feel you have failed rather than beating yourselves up over what could have been.
Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) helps you to learn to give yourself (and then others) this compassion – to build your resilience, confidence and self-esteem by teaching skills such as;
Compassionate reasoning
Compassionate imagery
Compassionate attention
Compassionate feeling
Compassionate behaviour
These skills develop what are considered to be the key attributes of giving yourself (and others) compassion;
Sensitivity – Being able to pay attention to your (or another’s) pain/distress – not ignoring or blocking it – without getting carried away in it
Care for well-being – a motivation to change/improve yours or another’s well-being from the current situation while also acknowledging where you are currently.
Non-judgement – not passing judgement on why you (or others) are doing/thinking/feeling what you (they) are doing/thinking/feeling but accepting things are the way they are right now (but that can change should you/they want)
Empathy – being emotionally in tune with yourself (and others) – to be aware of why you (and others) may be feeling the way you (they) are feeling/thinking/behaving
Distress tolerance – be able to tolerate your own (and others) pain, not to get swept away in it but to be able to ‘ride the wave’ knowing that it will pass.
Sympathy – being emotionally moved by and open to our (and others) pain
A session involving CFT may involve discussing how the different brain systems (threat, motivation and soothing) work together and how you can recognise and manage each one, it may involve an in depth look at how you came to think and feel the way you do about certain issues, as well as how to develop certain soothing meditation practices, finding ways for you to access a more compassionate self or learning how to apply compassion to yourself.
CFT has been found to be particularly good at helping people deal with low self-esteem, shame and anxiety - why not get in touch and see if it can help you?
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