The Burgeoning Popularity of Compassion Focused Therapy Events in Ireland
If you have a look at The Compassionate Mind Foundation’s website, you’re likely to discover that most of their training workshops are “Sold Out.” And with good reason. The speakers are top notch and Compassion Focused Therapy (or CFT as it’s known) and its core teachings are resonating with a population that is seeing unprecedented rises in mental health issues. Everyone who is exposed to this mélange of head and heart therapy, be they medical practitioner or otherwise, is hooked. Quite simply – it works.
Here is a brief outline of CFT from the Compassionate Mind Foundation:
The Compassionate Mind Foundation was founded as an international charity in 2006 by Professor Paul Gilbert and colleagues including Drs Deborah Lee, Mary Welford, Chris Irons, Ken Goss, Ian Lowens, Chris Gillespie, Mrs Diane Woollands, Mrs Jean Gilbert and other supporters.
The Compassionate Mind Foundation promotes an evolution and neuroscience informed approach to compassion which now forms the basis of a psychotherapy (Compassion Focused Therapy) and Compassionate Mind Training. The last 10 years have seen an expanding evidence base for both the therapy and Compassionate Mind Training for the alleviation of mental health difficulties and promoting wellbeing. It is now being used internationally in hospitals, prisons, schools and businesses. One of the greatest challenges facing humanity is how to stimulate compassion ways of thinking and problem solving for the benefit of all.
So it’s no surprise that practitioners in Ireland have wanted to avail of this training in order to pass this knowledge on to their clients. And they have been. For years, therapists from all over Ireland have been paying their own way, attending conferences in Derby, where the foundation is based. This has included paying for flights, accommodation and meals on top of the course fee every time they wanted to get training. This is where Dr. Katie Baird stepped in and decided to start the Compassionate Mind Ireland – the Irish Branch of the Compassionate Mind Foundation – and partner up with us, EventWise NI, to bring the speakers to Ireland and provide local training for practitioners. Furthermore, Dr. Katie Baird and a handful of other practitioners have obtained the training and permission to run their own CFT Workshops here as well.
You can check out our conversation with Dr. Katie Baird at the link below:
As a result of this we have had an influx of gratitude and have exponentially grown the Irish CFT community. The effect of which is that more people in Ireland who visit a mental health professional have access to the practices of CFT. The effect of this has untold reaches – including healthier attachment relationships between parents and children, stronger familial bonds and a lessening of dysfunction within the family unit.
To quote Dr. Deborah Lee, “hurt people hurt people; traumatized people traumatize people.” Help those hurt and traumatized people and you’re moving society in the right direction.
More information on registering for Compassion Focused Therapy Events & Training please see our current workshops on the EventWise NI website.