The Compassionate Mind Workbook

A practical workbook packed with exercises to help you develop compassion for yourself and others.

There is good and increasing evidence that cultivating compassion for one's self and others can have a profound impact on our physiological, psychological and social processes. In contrast, concerns with inferiority, shame and self-criticism can have very negative impacts on these processes and are associated with poorer physical and mental health.

The Compassionate Mind Workbook is for anyone who is interested in how compassion - in the form of ideas and practices derived from Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and other approaches - may help us to engage with, understand and ultimately, try to alleviate suffering.

CFT utilises both Buddhist practices and Western psychological science. It draws on neuroscience, insights into emotion regulation and identity formation, interpersonal psychology and a range of psychotherapeutic models. CFT-based interventions can help people with a range of mental health problems develop compassion for themselves, be open to the compassion of others and develop compassion for others.

This workbook is a step-by-step guide to CFT, in which the chapters build your understanding of yourself, the skills that give rise to a compassionate mind, and ways to work with whatever difficulties you're struggling with in life. The exercises, prompts and case stories in this book provide an understandable and practical way to develop compassion.

About the Author

Chris Irons is a Clinical Psychologist working for the NHS in London, UK. In his clinical work, he uses Compassion Focused Therapy with people suffering from a variety of mental health problems, including depression, PTSD, OCD, social anxiety, bipolar affective disorder, eating disorders and schizophrenia. He also has an interest in working with relationship difficulties and with issues of shame and self-criticism.

Chris is a board member of the Compassionate Mind Foundation, an accredited trainer and supervisor of Compassion Focused Therapy, and regularly presents to academic, professional and lay audiences on CFT and more broadly, the science of compassion.

Elaine Beaumont PhD is a Lecturer in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Salford University and has spent over 15 years working in Education and the Counselling and Psychotherapy profession.

Elaine is a BABCP Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and Europe Approved Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Practitioner and provides psychotherapy for organisations including Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. Elaine also provides clinical supervision for individuals who work for Anxiety UK, The Priory Hospital and Beacon Counselling Services.

Elaine's academic interests focus on exploring the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, compassion in healthcare, knowledge, theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy, mental health provision, and the importance of practitioner self-care.