Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

CFT (Compassion Focused Therapy) was originally developed by Professor Paul Gilbert to work with people that had self esteem problems, are very self critical and experience high levels of shame. It also addresses the difficulties that people with a traumatic upbringing can experience when they feel held back by their past.

Paul Gilbert developed this approach because he realized that when using traditional CBT clients sometimes reported that they could see logically how their negative thoughts were not true but they still felt that way. For example someone could logically see that they are not ‘a failure’ but they still felt like ‘a failure’. CFT then helps to bridge the gap between the ‘logical understanding’ and the ‘emotional understanding’.

CFT is a scientific approach that draws on a number of disciplines and models including evolutionary science which is extremely helpful to understand how our human brains have evolved to protect us but can be very tricky to manage. When we understand how our brains work we are in much better position to manage our emotions. Other tools that CFT uses are Mindfulness and Imagery work. It also pays a lot of attention to how we feel in the body has a direct link to how we feel in the mind.

CFT can be extremely powerful to help overcome long standing negative self beliefs. If you have self esteem problems and tend to be self critical and hard on yourself and this is holding you back in your life or leading to depression and anxiety, CFT would be very helpful to you. It can actually be helpful for all kinds of problems as what we learn with CFT is how to support ourselves when we are struggling with difficult emotions.

With CFT you will learn to be more self compassionate and develop the courage to pursue your goals in life and become ‘the best version of yourself’.