Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
What Is CFT?
Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is a modern psychotherapy developed by Professor Paul Gilbert, designed to help people struggling with shame, self-criticism, and emotional regulation difficulties. Grounded in evolutionary psychology and neuroscience, CFT teaches individuals how to develop and strengthen their compassionate mind to promote emotional balance, resilience, and psychological healing.
How CFT Works
CFT identifies three core emotional regulation systems: the threat system, the drive system, and the soothing system. Many people with chronic self-criticism or trauma have an overactive threat system and underdeveloped soothing system. CFT helps regulate these systems by training the brain to generate feelings of safeness, acceptance, and warmth—internally and in relationships—through specific imagery, breathing, and behavioral techniques.
Who Benefits from CFT?
CFT is especially effective for people with high shame, low self-worth, or those who struggle with being kind to themselves. It’s also used to treat depression, anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, and personality disorders. Rather than changing what people think, CFT focuses on changing how people relate to their thoughts and feelings—with compassion, rather than judgment or avoidance.
Learn More
- To understand how the brain’s three emotion regulation systems shape your inner experience—and how CFT works to rebalance them—see Your Brain’s 3 Emotion Regulation Systems.
- For an overview of compassion and its role in psychological healing and resilience, see Compassion: An Overview.
- To explore why some people fear or resist self-compassion—and how CFT helps address this—see Fears of Compassion.
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To understand how early attachment experiences shape the way we treat ourselves—including patterns of self-criticism or self-neglect—see How Attachment Affects Your Emotion Regulation & Relationships.
