Compassion-Focused Therapy

Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) is a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the importance of compassion in interactions with the self and the world. CFT is grounded in current understanding of basic emotion regulation systems: the threat and self-protection system, the drive and excitement system, and the contentment and social safeness system. Therapy sessions aim to bring the three emotional systems into balance and promote healing by helping clients develop and work with experiences of inner warmth, safeness and soothing.

“CFT aims to promote healing by helping clients develop and work with experiences of inner warmth, safeness and soothing.”

Acceptance Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of behavioural therapy that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies, together with commitment and behavior change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility means contacting the present moment fully as a conscious human being, and based on what the situation affords, changing or persisting in behavior in the service of chosen values.

“The goal of ACT is to create a rich and meaningful life, while accepting the pain that inevitably goes with it.”

Russ Harris

The goal of ACT is to create a rich and meaningful life, while accepting the pain that inevitably goes with it. Through experiential exercises clients learn how to make healthy contact with thoughts, feelings, memories, and physical sensations that have been feared and avoided, gain the skills to recontextualize and accept these private events, develop greater clarity about personal values, and commit to needed behavior change.