NHS Forth Valley – Compassion Focused Group Therapy

We know from the people that attend our service, that often the things that happen to them in life can mean they hold strong negative beliefs, be very critical about themselves and can be fearful and mistrusting of the world. We know that they often feel to blame for their difficulties, but we also know that this is actually not their fault.Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT) uses theory about how our brains have developed over time, both as humans through evolution, but also through our own life experiences. In CFT we use this knowledge to develop what we call our compassionate system. CFT is an evidence based psychological therapy.

People often think that compassion is simply about being “nice” and sometimes people can hold strong beliefs about what is means to be compassionate. In our group we will explore how compassion is as much about developing the courage and strength to get your needs met, as it is about finding a calmer way to be with ourselves.

In the group we will be developing our skills to understand and manage:

self-criticism
our threat system
feelings of low self-worth
feelings of shame
building on our feelings of safeness and trust

CFT works really well in groups, especially for people who have difficulties trusting others. This might seem a bit odd, but through being around others in the group what people can find is that they start to get better at receiving, and giving compassion to others, as well as being less critical and more compassionate towards themselves. The group provides a safe space to practice using skills and being around others.

Therapists

: Katie Baughan – Clinical Psychologist/Team Lead

: Graeme Tainsh – Nurse Psychotherapist

: Rebecca Fitzsimmons – Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology

Our Pathway

You will initially be invited to meet with two of our CFT Therapists for what we can an ‘Orientation Session’. This is face-to-face and usually held where group sessions are held. Orientation gives us all the opportunity to get to know one another, explore CFT and how it may benefit you. If CFT feels like the best fit you will then be invited to meet with a CFT Therapist individually for ‘Formulation Session(s)’. These sessions are dedicated to collaborating and deepening our understanding of the problems, begin to make sense of these problems through the lens of compassion and identify key issues for CFT Group. From here it will be determined what programme will meet your needs.

At present we are running a 12-week group with 2 individual review sessions and a 25-week group. Time in formulation will guide us to what will be the most appropriate group for you. Below is a diagram gives a general idea of our pathway:

Resources

Contained within this page you will find a variety of resources we use within the CFT group for your own use and practice.

These resources are designed for people attending our group. Please do not share these exercises with anyone not attending our groups. The exercises will be discussed in the group and specific instructions given about how to use them. If you have any questions about these exercises please speak to whoever is running your group.

The CFT practises use materials developed by leading researchers in the field (thanks to Deborah Lee, Chris Irons, Paul Gilbert and Kate Lucre).