Compassion Focused Therapy & Self-Compassion - Improve Your Wellbeing Today

Therapy – Self-Help – Training – Supervision

How we can help you with CFT and Self-Compassion

At Balanced Minds, everything we do is guided by CFT and how self-compassion can transform your life. Since 2012 we’ve helped over 20,000 people in four main ways:

1. Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

2. CFT and Self-Compassion Self-Help

3. CFT Training and Workshops

4. Compassion Focused Therapy Supervision

How Balanced Minds has been using CFT to help people and professionals

Clients Seen

Self-Help Course Sign Ups

CFT Workshop Participants

Therapists Supervised

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Some of the organisations we’ve worked with

Where We Can Help You - London, Edinburgh and Online

Are you struggling with anxiety, low self-esteem or depression? Have you lost your focus, drive or passion for life? Do you feel low in confidence, like you’ll never be good enough? Or perhaps you’re just feeling flat, uninspired and a little lost.

If so, CFT could be what you’ve been looking for.

We understand that life can sometimes be hard and everyone struggles from time to time. With so much to think about, external pressures and the constant juggle of life, it’s easy to be critical and hard on yourself. To feel fed up, frustrated or overwhelmed.

CFT offers a caring, effective and evidence-based solution. Our professional, qualified and experienced therapists can help you break free from negative self-talk and unhelpful behaviour patterns.

We can help to develop your self-worth and self-confidence so you can lead a happier and more contented life.

Self-Compassion and CFT Self-Help

Need help, but don’t want to work with a therapist?

Guided by the ideas and practices in CFT, we have a wide variety of evidenced based self-help resources and materials that guide you on the path towards happiness and wellbeing.

Self-Compassion App and Courses

CFT and Self-Compassion Audios

Compassion and CFT
Videos

CFT and Compassion Books & Reading

CFT Training and Workshops

Are you a therapist, health care practitioner or coach, and interested in learning more about how to use Compassion Focused Therapy in your job?

We’ve got a variety of trainings tailored to those just starting off on their compassion journey, and for people who want to deepen and develop their knowledge and skills further.

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CFT Supervision

Are you a clinician or professional interested in increasing the effectiveness of using CFT, and to deepen and develop your skills?

At Balanced Minds, we’re keen to support your knowledge and application of CFT through supervision.

We have a team of experienced psychologists and therapists, with many years of experience in practicing, teaching and training CFT, that can support your work. Collectively our supervisors have over 100 years of clinical experience.

We are strong believers in clinicians embodying compassion from the ‘inside-out’, with a recognition of common humanity and the realities of how hard our jobs can be in engaging in other peoples’ suffering and distress.

Take a look at CFT supervision options and get in touch about how we can support your professional and personal development

What are the Benefits of Compassion Focused Therapy?

There are now thousands of studies looking at the benefits of developing greater compassion for ourselves and others, and opening ourselves up compassion from others. Consistently, research has found that compassion – like a muscle or skill (e.g. sport, music, language) – cad be practiced, strengthened and cultivated. Here are a few highlights of the benefits of cultivating compassion

Less	Higher
Self-criticism	Wellbeing
Worry	Happiness
Rumination	Self-confidence
Shame	Self-esteem
Depression, anxiety & Stress	Resilience

There are also many studies showing the benefits of engaging in a course of Compassion-Focused Therapy. These have found that CFT can bring positive, clinically significant changes with difficulties including depression, anxiety, trauma, eating disorders, psychosis, attachment problems, addictions and OCD.

We also have clinicians experienced in how this approach can bring benefits to people managing neurodiversity, such as ADHD and Autism.

If you’d like to find out more about how CFT can benefit you, please get in touch at info@balancedminds.com

Interested to learn more? Read about what CFT is.

How we can support you with compassion?

If you go to the gym, there are lots of different machines that all help you to get fit. Some might work on particular muscle groups, or others at your whole body, but each help to bring positive changes in fitness.

Similarly, at Balanced Minds, there are a number of ways that we can help you to develop greater compassion in your life. These include:

Therapy: We have a large team of empathetic, experienced and caring therapists who will support you in bringing changes to life. With options for face-to-face sessions in London or Edinburgh, or meeting online from the convenience of your own home, we can find the right match for you

Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) Groups: In 2016 we developed an 8 week Compassionate Mind Training group, and published research showing the benefits for attendees. If you’re interested in developing your compassionate mind alongside caring, supportive others, this might be a good option for you.

Guided Audio Practices: If you’d like to practice exercises that have been shown to increase levels of compassion, we’ve got a number of free audios that will help

Guided Self-Help Courses: If you’re keen in developing your compassionate mind, but therapy isn’t the direction you’d like to go in, our self-help courses might be perfect for you. They are designed to over directed, guided ideas and exercises that evidenced based ways of improving wellbeing

Reading: We have published a number of compassion-inspired self-help books, designed to help you understand yourself better, and learn how to develop greater compassion for yourself and others

Self-Compassion App: We have been involved in developing an app that has been found to bring significant benefits to users psychological health

Compassion Focused Supervision: We have a team of practitioners who are highly experienced in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) who are skilled in supervising clinicians in further their skills in this approach

Compassion in Organisations: We spend a huge amount of our lives at work, but what type of organisation to you work in? Do you feel cared for, seen and supported? There is now a growing evidence base about the benefits of working in compassionate organisations, and we’ve been doing this type of work for over a decade

Compassion Focused Therapy Techniques

CFT is an integrated psychological approach developed by Professor Paul Gilbert. This means that it draws from a number of different ideas, theories, practices and interventions.

Whilst the therapeutic relationship, empathy, warmth and positive regard are all key parts of how the therapy is done, there are also some key Compassion Focussed Therapy techniques that can help to bring about helpful changes. These include:

Mindfulness
Soothing Breathing Rhythm
Calm Place Imagery
Compassionate Memory
Compassionate Imagery
Compassionate Self
Compassionate Letter Writing
Multiple Selves
Thought Balancing
Addressing Self-Criticism
Compassion-focused Chair Work
Compassionate Memory Re-scripting
Compassionate Thought Balancing
Behavioural Experiments
Exposure

History of Compassion Focussed Therapy

The history of Compassion Focussed Therapy is an interesting one. It emerged slowly in the United Kingdom, initially in the 1980s as a highly integrated, science based psychological therapy. It draws together many different types theories, for example:

Attachment Theory
Evolutionary Psychology
Social Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Neuroscience
Neurophysiology
Buddhist psychology

It also draws from a variety of therapies, including CBT and psychodynamic approaches, and common therapeutic interventions, but with a compassion twist! (e.g. chair work, imagery, memory re-scripting)

It was initially used to help people who had difficult early life experiences, who were struggling with high levels of shame and self-criticism, who tended not to do so well with standard therapies. Over the years, it’s been adapted to help a wide range of human difficulties, and also in helping to promote wellbeing, happiness and flourishing.

Today, Compassion Focussed Therapy is used across the world as a powerful way of bringing psychological and physiological changes. There’s increasing evidence of its positive impact for individuals, couples, groups and organisations, and as a form of guided self-help.

At Balanced Minds, we’ve worked hard to create a team of experienced and specialist clinicians who embody compassion in the personal and professional lives. We strive to provide a supportive, caring and empathetic experience for the people that we work with, and to create a organisations that holds compassion at its heart. If you’d like to find out more about our work, the services we provide, or to see learn about opportunities to be part of our team, please get in touch.