Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT)
What is Compassion Focussed Therapy?
One relatively new form of psychological therapy is Compassion-Focused Therapy (or CFT), devised by clinical psychologist Paul Gilbert. CFT is an integrative approach that takes tools, resources and approaches from a range of other psychotherapies, as well as Buddhism, evolutionary therapy and neuroscience. Valuably, CFT is a trans-diagnostic therapeutic model, meaning that it can help treat a variety of different mental health problems, but also act to prevent the onset of mental health problems by targeting key risk factors.
Research has supported CFT’s usefulness in treating shame, guilt and self-criticism, which can often lead to (or comprise a core component of) other mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety [1]. Research also supports the helpfulness of CFT in:
- Reducing self-criticism and increasing self-soothing [2]
- Increasing self-compassion and self-reassurance [3]
- Increasing self-esteem [4]
- Reducing depression symptoms [5]
- Reducing PTSD symptoms [6]
- Personality disorders (when delivered in a group format [7])
- Eating disorders [8]
CFT is also especially useful for anyone experiencing deep feelings of shame or guilt caused by a history of bullying, physical and/or emotional abuse (which can additionally be addressed by a therapeutic approach such as EMDR). It can also be effective if you have difficulties trusting others, have an unrelenting inner critic (which often tries to motivate through fear, shame and criticism) or have difficulties feeling kind towards yourself.
Like other forms of talking therapies, CFT aims to help you be kinder to yourself and take greater control over your own mental health, but focuses heavily on the development of practical compassion and self-soothing skills, which can be applied both to yourself and other people, as a means of alleviating suffering in the short term and enhancing self-worth and self-esteem in the long term.
One of the key theories that underpins CFT (and is drawn from neuroscientific understandings of how the brain evolved) is that there are three interconnected systems that are used to help us regulate our emotions: the threat system, the drive system and the contentment system [9].
- The threat system functions to help us detect threats in our environment - it puts our brains on high alert for threats, and predisposes us to feel protective emotions such as anger, fear and anxiety.
- The drive system, meanwhile, motivates us to seek out resources to have our basic needs met, as well as helping us achieve our goals; it is associated with feelings of achievement and energy.
- The contentment system enables us to soothe ourselves when there are no goals to be met or any perceived threats; helping us to feel safe, peaceful, happy and content. It is the system that allows us to develop strong bonds and connect with others.
Following this, according to CFT, when there are imbalances in these three systems (e.g. when the threat system is over-active, and the drive and contentment systems are hypo or under-activated), our emotional well-being can begin to suffer. CFT endeavours to restore balance between these three, with a focus on engaging the contentment system (in order to keep the other two in balance).
Various techniques are used in this kind of therapy, but the main focus is placed on “compassionate mind training”, which aims to help you develop compassionate skills and work on developing non-condemning thought patterns. Mindfulness, appreciation exercises and imagery exercises are also all used in CFT.
Compassion-Focussed Therapy in London
As an integrative therapist, I offer CFT (as well as integrating techniques from CFT into other treatments) in London and the surrounding areas, ensuring that the treatment offered is tailored to the individual so as to be as meaningful and useful as possible. Self-criticism, shame and guilt occur in a range of different mental health conditions - CFT is an especially useful therapy to draw upon wherever these concerns are pertinent to an individual and their presenting issues.
If you’d like to find out more about me and/or the therapy models I utilise in my work, please get in touch to see how I can help.
[1] Leaviss, J., & Uttley, L. (2015). Psychotherapeutic benefits of compassion-focused therapy: An early systematic review. Psychological medicine, 45(5), 927-945.
[2] Vidal, J., & Soldevilla, J. M. (2023). Effect of compassion‐focused therapy on self‐criticism and self‐soothing: A meta‐analysis. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(1), 70-81.
[3] Millard, L. A., Wan, M. W., Smith, D. M., & Wittkowski, A. (2023). The effectiveness of compassion focused therapy with clinical populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders.
[4] Thomason, S., & Moghaddam, N. (2021). Compassion‐focused therapies for self‐esteem: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 94(3), 737-759.
[5] Graser, J., Höfling, V., Weβlau, C., Mendes, A., & Stangier, U. (2016). Effects of a 12-week mindfulness, compassion, and loving kindness program on chronic depression: A pilot within-subjects wait-list controlled trial. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30(1), 35-49.
[6] Moeini, F. R., Goodarzi, N., Dabbaghi, P., Rahnejat, A. M., & Ghasemzadeh, M. R. (2023). A randomized controlled trial of cognitive analytic versus compassion-focused therapy for PTSD in Iran-Iraq War Veterans. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, (aop), e20230027.
[7] Lucre, K. M., & Corten, N. (2013). An exploration of group compassion‐focused therapy for personality disorder. Psychology and Psychotherapy: theory, research and Practice, 86(4), 387-400.
[8] Gale, C., Gilbert, P., Read, N., & Goss, K. (2014). An evaluation of the impact of introducing compassion focused therapy to a standard treatment programme for people with eating disorders. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 21(1), 1-12.
[9] Gilbert, P. (2009). Introducing compassion-focused therapy. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 15(3), 199-208. doi:10.1192/apt.bp.107.005264