Compassion Focused Therapy for Groups in Birmingham (November 2024)

Timings and Registration

This workshop will be 21 hours for towards your CPD, and you will receive a certificate of attendance shortly after the workshop.‍

All timings are according to British GMT

Day One: 10:00 - 17:00

Day Two: 09.30 - 17:00

Day Three: 09.30 - 16.30‍

Pricing

Early Bird Rate: £425.00 (expires 14th August 2024)

Standard Rate: £475.00

Student Rate: £399.00

For those in difficult financial circumstances, who may struggle to afford this price, please contact [email protected]

‍About this course

Compassion Focused Therapy was developed by Paul Gilbert to address difficulties associated with shame and self-criticism, manifest in a broad range of psychological and emotional difficulty. As a model of human suffering and wellbeing, CFT is now being used not only in a wide range of clinical settings, from primary care to secure forensic services, but also in educational and organisational settings. This workshop will offer an overview of the CFT framework for group-based interventions with a specific focus on the application of Compassion Focused Group psychotherapy (CFGP). CFGP provides a model of containment and attachment which is necessary when working at the edge of therapeutic opportunity with complex, relational and attachment trauma.

This workshop will combine a theoretical overview of Compassion Focused Therapy as it applies to the practice of group work, with practical suggestions for developing and managing the dynamics of all aspects of group psychotherapy. We will cover groups across the spectrum of complexity and duration from short term psycho-educative programmes aimed at primary care through to long term trauma-focused psychotherapy with hard to reach clients. We will also cover working with complexity, relational difficulties and attachment trauma, but focusing on supporting patients in these current times of uncertainty.

This workshop will focus on developing groups, transitioning from F2F to online and back again. There will be a range of experiential exercises, focusing on developing personal practice in self-compassion and delivering psycho-therapeutic interventions. Role-play practise opportunities will be offered with small group discussions regarding referral criteria, managing safety and using an evolutionary psychology model to cultivate compassion as the basis for inner growth and change. These exercises will focus on ways of cultivating safeness and working therapeutically F2F.

Access will also be given to a personal practice sound cloud and a comprehensive resource pack tailored to the requirements of the group. It is expected that participants in this workshop will gain theoretical and practice-based knowledge about the application of the CFT to groupwork and group dynamics and have the basis upon which to develop groupwork programmes.

Recommended Reading

‍Cuppage, J. , Baird, K. , Gibson, J. , Booth, R. and Hevey, D. (2018), Compassion focused therapy: Exploring the effectiveness with a transdiagnostic group and potential processes of change. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57: 240-254

Gilbert, P. & Proctor, S. (2006) Compassionate mind training for people with high shame and self‐criticism: overview and pilot study of a group therapy approach, Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 13: 353-379.

Heriot‐Maitland, C.; Vidal, J. B.; Ball, S. & Irons, C. (2014), A compassionate‐focused therapy group approach for acute inpatients: Feasibility, initial pilot outcome data, and recommendations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53: 78-94

Judge, L.; Cleghorn, A.; McEwan, K., & Gilbert, P (2012). An exploration of Group-Based Compassion Focused Therapy for a heterogeneous range of clients presenting to a community mental health team. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy: Special Section: Emotional Schemas, Emotion Regulation, and Psychopathology, 5: 420-429.

Lucre, K.M. & Corten, N. (2013) An exploration of group compassion-focused therapy for personality disorder, Psychology & Psychotherapy: Research, Theory & Practice. 86 (4): 387-400.

Yalom, I. & Lesczc, (2005) Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. Fifth Edition. Basic Books.

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

Lucre, K. (2022). Compassion-focused group psychotherapy for people who could attract a diagnosis of personality disorder. In Compassion Focused Therapy (pp. 427-442). Routledge.

Workshop Leader

Dr Kate Lucre is a Birmingham based Compassion Focused Therapist and Supervisor specialising in the use of CFT for complex trauma, personality and relational difficulties for groups and individuals. She is the regional supervision coordinator for the Compassionate Mind Foundation and also runs workshops for the Foundation and across the UK on CFT for Groups and Compassion Focused Staff Support and Supervision. Kate offers CFT supervision in groups and individually, including a monthly international Supervision Group for therapists involved in the provision of CFT groups. She has have published data on Compassion Focused Group Psychotherapy and is currently completing a PhD in CFT at Birmingham University evaluating a 12 month CFGP programme for people with severe personality disorder. Kate is also involved in a number of UK wide research projects developing and evaluating Compassion Focused Staff Support Initiatives. You can see some of her past presentations at div>