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Compassion-Focused Therapy
Introduction to Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT)
Online, Interactive webinar on Zoom, 6 weeks, (CPD 12 hours)
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This interactive live webinar comprehensively introduces Compassion-Focused Therapy ( also called Compassion Mind Training) to promote effective clinical intervention. This course teaches the underlying theoretical Compassion-Focused Therapy framework and essential practices in mindfulness and self-compassion to transform a wide range of mental issues such as inner criticisms, shame, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The focus is on developing our own personal practices as well as learning applications that can better assist clients.
Compassion-focused Therapy
Location: Online on Zoom
Date & Time : TBA
TBA
Cost: TBA
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TBA
Presenters: TBA
What is Compassion-Focused Therapy(CFT)?
COMPASSION-FOCUSED THERAPY (CFT) was initially developed by Paul Gilbert during the early 2000s. It is a compelling clinical approach to assist clients in dealing with a wide range of mental health problems. Compassion-Focused Therapy or Compassionate Mind Training, is an empirically validated therapeutic intervention that calls on the more evolved human mental capacities of empathy and compassion to promote well-being, resilience and better relationships.
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Compassion-focused therapy is an integrated psychological approach that draws on other models such as the evolution of the brain, neuroscience, attachment theories, internal family systems, mindfulness, CBT, ACT, and somatic psychology.
The heart of Compassion-Focused Therapy is “compassion” and the two psychologies of compassion. The first psychology is learning to engage with struggle, distress and pain, while the second psychology is learning ways to alleviate the distress, to help ourselves and others to experience more well-being and resilience.
Compassion-Focused Therapy recognises the three flows of compassion: offering compassion to others, receiving compassion from others and the compassion we give ourselves or self-compassion. As we cultivate self-compassion, we develop a relationship with ourselves that is kind, supportive, understanding and caring, and in this way, we re-organise our motivation and perspectives to promote courage, wisdom and skilful actions.
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​In Compassion-Focused Therapy, we cultivate compassion and self-compassion to increase the capacity to engage in a supportive relationship and to foster emotions of safety, contentment, belonging and connection, which are key to psychological healing. Many therapists from many approaches such as CBT, ACT, and EMDR and others are learning Compassion-Focused Therapy to extend their clinical expertise to facilitate greater transformation in themselves and their clients.
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Compassion-Focused Therapy is a compassionate mind training that consists of many strategies, practices, visualisations and meditations that are easy to use and can be integrated into everyday life, where we become more aware and intentional.
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Compassion-Focused Therapy is beneficial for clients who are experiencing a high level of self-criticism and shame, which is known to exacerbate and maintain depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, weight concerns, obsessive-compulsive disorders, chronic pain, hoarding and post-traumatic stress disorders.
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Research findings
Research increasingly shows that cultivating the three flows of compassion promotes positive clinical outcomes as well as protects therapists from stress burnout, empathy distress, caregiver fatigue and vicarious trauma, which can arise as we resonate with the struggles of our clients.
An increasing body of research is showing that Compassion-Focused Therapy fosters mental and physical health. Studies in clinical settings show significant psychological improvements in clients with a diagnosis of anxiety, depression, trauma, brain injury, eating disorders, personality disorders, hoarding disorders, schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, and other chronic mental health problems.
Numerous other studies in the last ten years have found that Compassion-Focused Therapy or Compassion Mind Training increases emotional regulation, well-being, resilience, positive relationships, a healthy lifestyle and a sense of meaning in the world. Compassion-Focused Therapy has been used for clinical intervention with single individuals and couples, as well as applied in groups in therapeutic settings and wellness programs.
What you will learn
This course will teach the underlying theoretical framework of Compassion-Focused Therapy as well as clinical applications such as:
1. Explore the evolutionary model of the “tricky” brain and associated psychological processes to understand difficult emotions.
2. Ease misgivings, resistance and fear of compassion and self-compassion in ourselves and our clients
3. Understand and work with the three emotional systems- threat system, drive system and care-giver-soothing system to better regulate emotions
4. Cultivate practices strengthening helpful motives, competencies and identities of a compassionate self to ease self-criticism.
5. Focus on cognitive and somatic mindfulness practices to stabilise the mind and to promote feelings of safeness, contentment, warmth and connection.
6. Enable clients to shift from self-blame to experience acceptance and self-compassion.
7. Develop a compassionate self to help to bring balance and to regulate difficult emotions/behaviours.
8. Promote Positive Emotions of engagement and connections
9. Engagement in self-compassion practices
10. Applications of Case Formulation and Life Plan Formulation
At the end of the course you will be more able to:
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Bring into balance the three emotional systems including the threat system.
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Understand and make peace with the inner critic and ease shame
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Cultivate a compassionate voice to gain better motivation, courage and resilience
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Work with the multiple selves including the compassionate self for more understanding, acceptance and integration
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Understand and practice the three flows of compassion including self-compassion
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Activate the care-giving-affiliative system to develop self-compassionate responses to soothe, to ease difficult emotions
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Increase capacity to engage with distress to help clients more effectively.
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Understand and complete Case Formulations and Life Plan Formulations and use a variety of other worksheets to support the applications of CFT
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Teach others self-reflective exercises, meditations and visualisations to cultivate compassion and self-compassion
What to expect:
This course is a live interactive Webinar on Zoom. It provides practical applications and tools for your own personal practice as well as supporting clinical work with clients. The content is didactic and experiential with guided mindfulness and self-compassion meditations, visualisations, as well as self-reflective exercises and multiple worksheets.
We will also be recording every session so that if you cannot attend the session on the day, you can view the session at a later time.
Who is it for?
This practical training course is for therapists and counsellors who see clients face to face or in group sessions such as psychologists, clinical psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, school counsellors, mental health/psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, coaches, counsellors and others working in a variety of settings in mental health, drug and alcohol, relationship counselling, genetic counselling and so on.
There will be a focus on clinical as well as a personal practices. The aim is to cultivate a compassionate mind ourselves for more wellbeing, resilience and satisfaction in our home and workplace so we can teach what we practice in our own daily life.
Give yourself the gift of compassion!
Connect with your inner wisdom, wellbeing and resilience
Continued Professional Development (CPD)
A Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Certificate of Attendance (12 hours) will be given to everyone at the end of the course. Also, a Certificate for Active Learning (14 hours) will be available, following the completion of a Questionnaire, Case Formulation and Life Plan Formulation. This course train in focused-psychological strategies for Mental Health practitioners (social workers) and is also promoted on the Australian Psychological Society (APS) calendar of events.
Suggested Prior Reading (optional)
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Compassion-Focused Therapy - Clinical Practice and Applications Edited by Paul Gilbert and Gregoris Simos, 2022
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Essentials of Compassion-Focused Therapy- A practical manual for clinicians by Nicola Petrocchi and James Kirby with Beatrice Baldi, 2025
Meet Your Presenters
Marie Bloomfield
Clinical Psychologist
Senior Certified MSC Teacher
B.Sc(Psych.), M.Clin. Psych(UNSW), MAPS(Coll.Clin.Psych.)
Marie Bloomfield, Clinical Psychologist and accomplished therapist, has over 40 years of experience working in mental health, including public, academic and private sectors. Marie has been using Compassion-Focused Therapy and Mindful Self-Compassion for individual and group clinical interventions since 2011. Marie has attended regular Supervision meetings with Paul Gilbert for many years and is keeping up to date with the latest developments by continuing to attend master workshops in Compassion-Focused Therapy.
She knows from personal and clinical experience that compassion changes and enhances lives.
Compassion Focused-Therapy
Online, via Zoom, 6 weeks, 12 hours CPD
Date
TBA
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost TBA
​Early bird
Regular
Cancellation Policy
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If you make the payment and cancel 14 days before the start of the online training you will be fully refunded minus the booking fee of $20.00.
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If you cancel 1-14 days prior to the online training you will be refunded 75% of your payment.
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Sorry, there will be no refund during the online training.