Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT)

CFT is a system of psychotherapy that integrates techniques from CBT with concepts form evolutionary, social and developmental psychology, as well as Buddhism and neuroscience.  CFT can help with problems related to shame and self-criticism in particular which often have their origins in experiences of childhood abuse, neglect or bullying. 

A central premise of the model is that the human brain has evolved from three distinct emotion regulation systems: a threat/protection system, a drive/resource-seeking system, and a soothing/attachment system.  CFT focuses on the links between cognitive behavioural patterns and these systems of emotional regulation, which may have developed in an unbalanced way as a result of early experiences.