Compassion Focused Therapy Flashcards
CFT Skills
Soothing rhythm breathing
Scan body
Safe place creation
Kindness is for creating happiness and well-being
Compassion is for addressing suffering
3 Stage of Therapy
CFT
Mindfulness - paying attention to the present moment without judgement or overwhelm
1) Developing Skills
10 Gilbert Skills:
start simply, get the body ready, realistic expectations, attention & mindfulness
2) Consolidation skills
3) Embedding skills and Resilience
Gilbert’s
5 Stage Model of Change
- Recognition of emotional problems
- Recognition emotional suffering
- Recognition of triggers
- Recognition of impact of compassion
- Recognition of the journey
Self-Criticism
A form of talk
I vs you
Unhelpful thinking styles (labelling, shoulding, over generalisation)
Self Compassion
Pathway
1-5 Skills
Soothing Rhythm Breathing
Simple body scan and relaxation
Creating a Safe Place
Compassionate Colour(s)
The Compassionate Self
6-10 Skills
Compassion Flowing Out
Focusing the Compassionate Self on Others
Focusing the Compassionate Self onto Oneself
Focusing the Compassionate Self on Yourself
Creating a compassionate Ideal
01
Soothing Rhythm Breathing
Straighten spine
Square breathing
Surf thoughts
02
Simple Body Scan
Focus
Flow
Feel gratitude for relaxation
03
Creating a safe place
Safety
Sensory
Savour
04
Compassionate Colour
Settle on a colour that you associate with
compassion, warmth and kindness.
Sole purpose of this colour is to help you, to
strengthen you and support you.
Smile internally
05
Compassionate Self
Through the eyes of your compassionate self, look out at the part of you that you want to work with.
- Wisdom
- Strength
- Warmth
- Responsibili
a. Intent over Intensity
b. Patchy but Progressive
c. Humane but not human
d. Practice daily, routinely, mundanely
e. Reflect on ‘you at your best’.
06
Compassion Flowing Out
Focus on the pleasure of kindness and your desire to be helpful and kind; the sense of warmth; feelings of expansion; your tone of voice; the wisdom in your voice and in your behaviour.
07
Compassion for Others
Direct towards other: feelings and thoughts:
• May you be well
• May you be happy
• May you be free of suffering
Imagine them reciprocating
08
Compassion for Self
Go to a compassionate ‘Self Mode’
Bring to mind a memory of a time when someone was kind to you.
Explore the facial expressions of the person who was kind to you.
Focus on the kinds of things this person said and the tone of their voice.
Focus on the feeling of the emotion in the person, what they really felt for you
Create a compassionate face expression and a body posture which gives you the sense of
kindness as you recall.
09
Compassionate Self on Self
Working with the troubled or anxious self
• yields a more objective view of difficulties
• stimulates healing
• balances internal stuggles
• increases acceptance
• Supports learning for change
- Compassionate Mode
- Imagine watching a video of You getting up and going about your day.
- Note self-critical thoughts about themselves, fears of being criticized
- Focus on the Intention of being kind and helpful to You.
- If wandering, let the You video fade, reinstall Compassionate Self, restart
- For anxiety imagine time moving on and anxiety dissipating
10
Compassionate Ideal
• A deep commitment to you: a desire to help you cope with and relieve your suffering, and take joy in your happiness.
Strength of mind: It is not overwhelmed by your pain or distress, but remains present, enduring it with you.
- Wisdom: gained through experience. It truly understands the struggles we go through in life. We all ‘just find ourselves here’, doing our best.
- Warmth: conveyed by kindness, gentleness, caring and openness.
- Acceptance: It is never judgmental or critical; it understands your struggles and accepts you as you are.
