COMPASSIONATE MIND TRAINING
COMPASSIONATE MIND TRAINING
Be Well - Live Well - Make Life Better!
What is Compassionate Mind Training (CMT)?
CMT is an innovative approach to wellbeing based in science and adapted from the ground-breaking work of internationally renowned psychologist, Prof. Paul Gilbert, OBE, creator of Compassion Focused Therapy.
This course offers the chance to understand why compassion is the answer to living well in a complicated world and offers you the opportunity to develop your own Compassionate Mind. Sessions will be informal, and will involve taught content, group discussions, guided experiences, meditative practices, and writing tasks. To make the most of it you’ll also invited to set time aside for reading and practice between sessions, but it will be up to you to decide how much time to devote to such tasks.
Find out more
What’s involved?
CMT is an 8-week training programme. Participants MUST attend the first session and will ideally aim to attend them all. Those who are unable to attend at least six sessions are encouraged to wait until they are able to attend more of the programme. You will be invited to do various things between each session; however, whether or not you accept these invitations will be down to you.
When is it, and where will the sessions take place?
• Wednesdays, 6.30pm to 9.00pm from 22 April through to 17 June 2020 (with a break for half term on 28/05/20).
• The Bristol Commonwealth Society, Commonwealth House, 14, Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 1PD (Google Map)
Who’s behind it?
CMT was developed by Dr Chris Irons (clinical psychologist and best-selling author) and is being bought to Bristol by Will Devlin. Will is a clinical psychologist living and working in Bristol. Will has a special interest in compassion and trained under Paul Gilbert.
What does it cost?
Tickets start at £179. The ticket price includes 20 hours of contact time, and a host of bespoke downloadable resources comprising an accompanying manual, print resources, and various guided exercises.
How do I book?
Tickets are available online until 22 March 2020 by following this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/compassionate-mind-training-an-eight-week-programme-tickets-81330637125
Further Information
Course Aim and Learning Outcomes
The aim of CMT is:
to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to develop a compassionate approach to themselves and others which enable us to thrive despite that challenges that life brings.
By the end of the course participants will know:
• What compassion is, the science behind it, and how it can flow in three directions.
• How our minds are naturally susceptible to getting caught-up in loops of negative thoughts and feelings.
• The ‘three circles’ model of emotions, and why human emotions become unbalanced so easily.
• What helps compassion to flourish, what can get in the way, and how to train their minds with, and for compassion.
• About the power of attention and awareness, for shaping our experiences and how to stabilise attention so that our minds work at their best.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn and practice skills for:
• Developing and accessing their compassionate minds.
• Creating emotional balance.
• Balancing tricky feelings such as shame, sadness and anxiety.
• Stabilising attention through mindfulness.
• Developing their compassionate minds using practices, for example, involving imagining, using memories, breath control, and embodiment.
Teaching and Learning Methods
• Taught content
• Experiential exercises, i.e. learning by doing
• Meditative practice
• Written work (optional)
• Small group discussions
• Invitation and ideas for “homework” which will complement the training and allow participants to consolidate their learning and practice new skills
• Take-home information, and audio guidance for homework tasks
Take home resources
Week on week you will be given online access to notes which accompany each session and build into a complete manual over time. You will also get access to audio guided exercises and practices including visualisations, mindfulness exercises and soothing rhythmic breathing.
Group Size
The training will be offered to groups of no more than 14 people to ensure that sessions feel as relaxed and informal as possible.
