Audio Collection: Psychology Tools For Developing Self-Compassion
Psychology Tools For Developing Self-Compassion is an audio collection which guides clients through an empirically-supported programme of compassionate mind training (CMT). This skills-development program is designed for those who struggle with self-criticism, shame, self-esteem, or any other consequences of living with a tricky brain. CMT has been demonstrated to increase how much compassion an individual has for themselves and for others, which can not only reduce psychological distress but also increase wellbeing. Developed with Dr Chris Irons, one of the main international trainers of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), the audio collection contains over five hours of exercises that your clients can practice to develop their self-compassionate motivation.
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Languages this resource is available in
- English (GB)
- English (US)
Problems this resource might be used to address
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Grief, loss & bereavement
- Perfectionism
- Self-esteem & self-criticism
- Shame
- Stress
Techniques associated with this resource
Mechanisms associated with this resource
Introduction & Theoretical Background
Audio collections from Psychology Tools can help your clients to develop the skills they need to confidently face challenges in their lives. They are designed to be flexible so that they can support work completed in therapy, operate alongside therapy, or be completed independently of it. Each collection is self-contained, supporting your clients as they learn and eventually master new skills.
The Developing Self-Compassion audio collection guides your clients through a variety of ideas and exercises derived from Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). Regular self-practice will help them to increase their compassion for self and others, which has been demonstrated to reduce psychological distress and increase wellbeing. The audio collection contains six sections:
- Section 1: An introduction to compassion focused therapy
- Section 2: Attention and mindfulness: the foundations of compassion
- Section 3: Developing your soothing system
- Section 4: The power of imagery and memory
- Section 5: Developing your compassionate mind
- Section 6: Directing your compassionate mind
What is compassion
Therapist Guidance
The Psychology Tools For Developing Self-Compassion audio collection is for anyone who wants to learn more about the ideas and practices of compassion focused therapy. It has been designed to be versatile, so it is suitable to support work with therapists who have been trained in compassion focused therapy, or to be used as a stand-alone collection of exercises. To assist the integration of the exercises into their clinical work, therapists can download the scripts for each exercise for use in-session.
In order to help your clients to get the most from this audio collection it is useful to help them to understand that it was designed to work like a training course in compassion focused therapy: when these trainings are conducted in-person they often happen over consecutive weeks so that participants have a chance to digest the information, and practice the exercises. Good advice is that this definitely isn’t the
References And Further Reading
- Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53(1), 6-41.
- Gilbert, P. (2020). Compassion: From its evolution to a psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 3123.
- Irons, C., & Beaumont, E. (2017). The compassionate mind workbook: A step-by-step guide to developing your compassionate self. Robinson.
- Irons, C., & Heriot‐Maitland, C. (2021). Compassionate Mind Training: An 8‐week group for the general public. Psychology and psychotherapy: Theory, research and practice, 94(3), 443-463.
- Leboeuf, I., Andreotti, E., Irons, C., Beaumont, E., & Antoine, P. (2022). A randomized controlled study of a French compassionate mind training. Mindfulness, 13(11), 2891-2903.
- Savari, Y., Mohagheghi, H., & Petrocchi, N. (2021). A preliminary investigation on the effectiveness of compassionate mind training for students with major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Mindfulness, 12(5), 1159-1172.