Workshop

Introduction to Theory and Practice of Compassion Focused Therapy

Workshop over 5 Friday afternoons with Dr Tobyn Bell & Dr Ashleigh McLellan

06 November 2026
04 December 2026
Online
5 consecutive Friday afternoon sessions
£350

Card, Invoice & bank transfer available

About this workshop

This workshop will run from 13.00 – 17.30 GMT and will count as 21 hours toward your CPD.

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This workshop will provide a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of CFT. Participants will learn how compassion can have an impact on our bodies, brains, minds and social relationships, and how we can bring this compassion into our therapeutic work. The CFT model draws on, and integrates, a number of different approaches and insights, such as including evolutionary approaches to the origins of our ‘tricky’ brain, with the nature of our complex of motives, and emotions and beliefs. This workshop will guide participants to in how to explore these processes including explore working with three basic emotion regulation systems that are focused on: i) dealing with stresses and threats; ii) guiding us to strive and pursue things we want or need and are sources of positive feelings and iii) settling threat and drive, and underpining social connectedness and feeling safe.

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Participants will learn how compassion is viewed as a basic algorithm defined as sensitivity to suffering in self and others, with a commitment to alleviate and prevent it. They will explore how we can use the processes of engaging with suffering and the processes of taking action in therapeutic work. Workshop trainers will guide participants in understanding what is necessary to be able to develop empathic sensitivity, courage and wisdom to take effective actions to address the sources of mental and physical suffering. They will also guide participants through the basic elements and foundations of CFT and Compassionate Mind Training (CMT), including how to use the body to support the mind, the use of compassionate imagery, how to practice compassionate behaviours and texture compassionate cognitive interventions. These can apply to the three flows of compassion (developing compassion for others, being open to the compassion from others and developing self-compassion), and how these dimensions of compassion can be met with fears, blocks and resistances, and how we can work with this.There will be a focus also on how we can use a compassion focused approach to work with the transdiagnostic problems of shame and self criticism.

 

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For more information on content,click here.

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What you'll learn

01

What compassion is, and how it informs and is used in psychotherapeutic practice

02

The theory and practice of CFT

03

CFT psychoeducation and how it is used in practice

04

Using CFT in transdiagnostic areas like shame and self criticism

Who this workshop is for

Psychologist

Psychotherapists

Mental Health Practitioners

Meet your instructor

Dr Tobyn Bell
Psychotherapist

Tobyn is a Compassion Focused Therapy Trainer, Supervisor and Psychotherapist, and is also part of the training committee for the Compassionate Mind Foundation. He is a co-author of Compassion Focused Therapy from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists, and has published widely on topics relating to compassion focused therapy. Tobyn regularly provides national and international training on compassion and chairwork and conducts research in these areas.  He is a co-founder of Chairwork which is an international hub for and provider of chairwork-related training and supervision. Tobyn also works as a lecturer and operational lead in the School of Health Science at the University of Manchester.

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Tobyn has recently been interviewed for Psychology on Demand and It is Time, and appears on episodes of the podcasts Ask The Therapist and Welcome to Self

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Read full bio
Dr Ashleigh McLellan
Clinical Psychologist

Dr Ashleigh McLellan is a consultant clinical psychologistwith 20 years’ experience in the NHS working with complex mental healthpresentations.  She was the clinical leadfor the Humber Traumatic Stress Service in Hull with a specialism in militarytrauma, refugees and asylum seekers and a range of cPTSD presentations.  In 2020 Ashleigh started working exclusivelyin independent practice. Through her company Anumi she is applying CFT toexecutive coaching, leadership training and systems.  She also continues to provide therapy andsupervision in her private clinical practice. Ashleigh started her CFT journeyin 2007; she completed the PGCert in CFT in 2017 and has been a trainer andsupervisor for the foundation since 2018.

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Read full bio
Book your place
£350
06 November 2026
04 December 2026
Online
5 consecutive Friday afternoon sessions
Reserve your spot
Secure online payment

Need to pay by invoice or bank transfer?
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Contact us at finance@compassionatemind.co.uk

FAQs

Find answers to common questions about this workshop.

Can I watch the recordings in my own time?

We understand that, due to time differences, it may not be possible for you to attend all of this training live with us. With that in mind, the workshop will be recorded, and you'll have access to the recordings for up to three months after the live broadcast to watch in your own time.

If you're unable to attend for the entire duration, please email hello@compassionatemind.co.uk to let us know, as non-attendees will not receive a certificate unless we are informed of your circumstances.

My employer will be paying for this course. Can you arrange for an invoice?

Yes, please email finance@compassionatemind.co.uk who will be able to organise this for you.

Still have questions?

Email us anytime

Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Compassion Focused Therapy

join waitlist
Level
Beginner
Price
£350
Dates
November 6, 2026
December 4, 2026
Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Compassion Focused Therapy

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Registration

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Handouts and any accompanying materials will be sent to you via email before the beginning of the workshop. If this is not possible, one of our admin team will be in touch.

Once you click the meeting link to join the meeting, you will be placed in a waiting room and a member of our admin team will add you to the workshop shortly before it begins. A team member will be available for any technical support (should it arise) throughout the day, and can be contacted by private message or via hello@compassionatemind.co.uk

This workshop will offer 21 hours towards your CPD, and you will receive a certificate of attendance shortly after the workshop via email. This workshop will be recorded, and a recording will be sent to all participants and will be available for up to three months after the live broadcast.

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Timings

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This workshop will run for 5 Friday afternoon sessions from 6th November to 4th December 2026.

Session 1: Friday, 6th November

Session 2: Friday, 13th November  13.00 – 17.30

Session 3: Friday, 20th November  13.00 – 17.00

Session 4: Friday, 27th November  13.00 – 17.00

Session 5: Friday, 4th December  13.00 – 17.30

All timings are according to GMT (UK time zone).

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Pricing

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This workshop is offered at a flat rate £350.00.

To pay in installments, or for those who may struggle or be unable to afford this price, please contact finance@compassionatemind.co.uk

‍

‍

‍

This workshop will run from 13.00 – 17.30 GMT and will count as 21 hours toward your CPD.

‍

This workshop will provide a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of CFT. Participants will learn how compassion can have an impact on our bodies, brains, minds and social relationships, and how we can bring this compassion into our therapeutic work. The CFT model draws on, and integrates, a number of different approaches and insights, such as including evolutionary approaches to the origins of our ‘tricky’ brain, with the nature of our complex of motives, and emotions and beliefs. This workshop will guide participants to in how to explore these processes including explore working with three basic emotion regulation systems that are focused on: i) dealing with stresses and threats; ii) guiding us to strive and pursue things we want or need and are sources of positive feelings and iii) settling threat and drive, and underpining social connectedness and feeling safe.

‍

 

Participants will learn how compassion is viewed as a basic algorithm defined as sensitivity to suffering in self and others, with a commitment to alleviate and prevent it. They will explore how we can use the processes of engaging with suffering and the processes of taking action in therapeutic work. Workshop trainers will guide participants in understanding what is necessary to be able to develop empathic sensitivity, courage and wisdom to take effective actions to address the sources of mental and physical suffering. They will also guide participants through the basic elements and foundations of CFT and Compassionate Mind Training (CMT), including how to use the body to support the mind, the use of compassionate imagery, how to practice compassionate behaviours and texture compassionate cognitive interventions. These can apply to the three flows of compassion (developing compassion for others, being open to the compassion from others and developing self-compassion), and how these dimensions of compassion can be met with fears, blocks and resistances, and how we can work with this.There will be a focus also on how we can use a compassion focused approach to work with the transdiagnostic problems of shame and self criticism.

 

‍

For more information on content,click here.

‍

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Online via Zoom

Recommended Reading

 

Gilbert, P. (2020). Compassion: From its evolution to a psychotherapy. Frontiers in psychology, 11,586161.

 

Gilbert, P., & Simos,G. (Eds.). (2022). Compassion Focused Therapy: Clinical Practice andApplications.Routledge.

 

Petrocchi, N., Ottaviani,C., Cheli, S., Matos, M., Baldi, B., Basran, J. K., & Gilbert, P.(2024) The impact of CompassionFocused Therapy on positive and negative mental health outcomes: Results of aseries of meta-analyses. ClinicalPsychology: Science and Practice.

 

 

 

Foundational Texts

 

Gilbert, P. (2010) Compassion Focused Therapy DistinctiveFeatures Series. London: Routledge

 

Gilbert. P. (2009). The Compassionate Mind.Robinson

 

Irons, C. & Beaumont,E. (2017) The Compassionate MindWorkbook. Robinson

 

Kolts, R. L. (2016) CFT Made Simple: A Clinician's Guide to Practising Compassion FocusedTherapy. New Harbinger.

 

Kolts, R. L., Bell, T.,Bennett-Levy, J., & Irons, C. (2018). Experiencing Compassion Focused Therapy from the Inside Out: ASelf-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists. Guilford Publications.

 

Welford, M. (2016) Compassion Focused Therapy for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons.

 

 

 

Papers and Book Chapters

 

Brown, N., & Ashcroft,K. (2025). The effectiveness ofcompassion focused therapy for the three flows of compassion, self-criticism,and shame in clinical populations: A systematic review. Behavioral Sciences, 15(8),1031.

 

Craig, C., Hiskey, S.,& Spector, A. (2020). Compassion focused therapy: Asystematic review of its effectiveness and acceptability in clinicalpopulations. Expert review ofneurotherapeutics, 20(4), 385-400.

 

French, J., Brown, R.,& Bell, T. (2023). ‘It’s Nice for My Body but IDon’t Like It’–Experiences of Soothing Rhythm Breathing in Clients withDepression. OBM Integrativeand Complementary Medicine, 8(4), 1-31

 

Gilbert, P. (2024). Threat, safety, safenessand social safeness 30 years on: Fundamental dimensions and distinctions formental health and well‐being. British journalof clinical psychology

 

Gilbert, P. (2021). Creating a compassionateworld: Addressing the conflicts between sharing and caring versus controllingand holding evolved strategies. Frontiersin psychology, 11, 582090.

 

Gilbert, P. (2019) Living Like Crazy. York: Annwyn House.

 

Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focusedtherapy. British Journalof Clinical Psychology, 53(1), 6-41.

 

Gilbert, P., Basran, J.K., Plowright, P., & Gilbert, H. (2023). Energizing compassion: usingmusic and community focus to stimulate compassion drive and sense ofconnectedness. Frontiersin Psychology, 14.

 

Harris, D. (2023). An Exploration of CompassionFocused Therapy for Grieving Individuals. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 8(4), 1-31.

 

Kirby, J. N., Day, J.,& Gilbert, P. (2024). Social rank andcompassion: How insecure striving, social safeness and fears of compassionmediate the relationship between masculinity, depression and anxiety. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory,Research and Practice.

 

Kirby, J. N., &Gilbert, P. (2017). The emergence of the compassion focused therapies. In P.Gilbert (ed) Compassion: Concepts, Research & Application (pp.258-285). Routledge.

 

Kirby, J. N., &Petrocchi, N. (2023). Compassion Focused Therapy–What It Is, What It Targets,and the Evidence. In A, Finlay-Jones, K. Bluth & K. Neff (eds) Handbook of Self-Compassion (pp. 417-432). Cham: Springer InternationalPublishing.

 

Lawrence, V. A., &Lee, D. (2014). An exploration of people's experiences ofcompassion‐focused therapy for trauma,using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 21(6),495-507.

 

Leaviss, J., & Uttley,L. (2015). Psychotherapeutic benefits of compassion-focusedtherapy: An early systematic review. Psychologicalmedicine, 45(5), 927-945.

 

Lee, D. (2005) The perfectnurturer: A model to develop a compassionate mind within the context ofcognitive therapy. In P.Gilbert (Ed) Compassion: Conceptualisations, Research and use in Psychotherapy.  London:  Routledge

 

Lucre, K., & Clapton,N. (2021). The Compassionate Kitbag: A creative andintegrative approach to compassion‐focusedtherapy. Psychology andPsychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 94, 497-516.

 

McEwan, K., & Minou,L. (2023). Defining compassion: A Delphistudy of compassion therapists’ experiences when introducing patients to theterm ‘compassion’. Psychologyand Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 96(1), 16-24.

 

Steindl, S., Bell, T.,Dixon, A., & Kirby, J. N. (2023). Therapist perspectives on working with fears,blocks and resistances to compassion in compassion focused therapy. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 23(3),850-863.

 

Vidal, J., &Soldevilla, J. M. (2023). Effect of compassion‐focused therapy on self‐criticism and self‐soothing: A meta‐analysis. BritishJournal of Clinical Psychology, 62(1), 70-81.

 

 

To see the full range ofCompassion Focused Therapy and Compassionate Mind related books, please checkout the link: compassionatemind.co.uk/resources/books

 

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This course is for

Mental Healthcare Practitioners
Psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, nurses, psychiatrists and other mental health professions; mental health practitioners that are looking for a new way to introduce compassion focused therapy into their practice.

Meet your instructor(s)

Dr Tobyn Bell

Dr Tobyn Bell

Psychotherapist
Dr Ashleigh McLellan

Dr Ashleigh McLellan

Clinical Psychologist

FAQs

Can I watch the recordings in my own time?

We understand that, due to time differences, it may not be possible for you to attend all of this training live with us. With that in mind, the workshop will be recorded, and you'll have access to the recordings for up to three months after the live broadcast to watch in your own time.

If you're unable to attend for the entire duration, please email hello@compassionatemind.co.uk to let us know, as non-attendees will not receive a certificate unless we are informed of your circumstances.

My employer will be paying for this course. Can you arrange for an invoice?

Yes, please email finance@compassionatemind.co.uk who will be able to organise this for you.

Prices

If you wish to book via invoice, please click here to download our workshop booking form.

Terms and conditions


All places booked for our event, must be paid for prior to attending the event unless pre-agreed with management. Please note that we cannot confirm your place until we have received payment.
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Should you be unable to attend the event, please contact our admin team as soon as possible via hello@compassionatemind.co.uk. Refunds, less the Eventbrite administration fee, will be made if cancellations are received in writing up to one month before the event. Any cancellations received after this time will not be eligible for a refund, although we will consider exceptional circumstances.  While refunds for failure to attend cannot be made, you can transfer your event fee to a future event that will take place within 12 months of your booking without an additional penalty.
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Please note that information about the event and venue are subject to change and cancellation. Occasionally, an event may have to be cancelled or postponed.  We will endeavour to inform you of any changes and cancellations as soon as possible via email. We cannot take responsibility for any resulting costs you may incur for travel, accommodation, any other related goods or service or other compensation should an event cancellation occur.
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For all face-to-face events, lunch provided at the event will be vegetarian and will include eggs, but no meat or fish (though vegan options will also be made available). However, please advise us of any dietary requirements in the notes section whilst booking online and we will do our best to accommodate your request.