ABSTRACT

Compassion focused therapy (CFT) Made Simple organized CFT as involving layered processes and practices which work together to support and reinforce one another. The therapist then compassionately acknowledges Andre’s recognition of his own pain in a way that emphasizes the courageous aspect of compassion – and again invites Andre to reinforce himself by noticing the difference between this and what he’s done in the past. As many clients may use anger to avoid experiencing more vulnerable-feeling emotions such as fear, anxiety, or sadness, the multiple-selves practice can be particularly useful for angry clients. Anger can be intense and impulsive or involve simmering rumination and planning. CFT always guides clients to understand the function of emotions. As CFT was specifically developed to help people work with shame and difficult emotions and offers a clear path to a powerful, values-based way of being in the world, it seems a perfect fit to help people overcome these obstacles.