Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy: Mindfulness-Based Practices for Healing and Transformation

by Tim Desmond

This lucidly written guide integrates cutting-edge neuroscience with mindfulness and traditional Buddhist practices to show mental health professionals how they can help clients develop a more loving, kind and forgiving attitude toward themselves.


Researchers now understand that self-compassion is a skill that can be strengthened through deliberate practice, and that it is one of the strongest predictors of mental health and wellness. The brain’s compassion center, which neuroscientists call the Care Circuit, can be targeted and fortified using specific techniques. Filled with illuminating case examples, Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy shows readers how to apply self-compassion practices to treat depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, relationship problems, self-sabotage, and more.


Readers do not need to have any background in mindfulness in order to benefit from this book. However, those that do will find that self-compassion practices have the capacity to add new layers of depth to mindfulness-based therapies such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).

Genres: Psychology, Buddhism, Self Help, Counselling, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 16, 2015

About the author

TIM DESMOND is a Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Antioch University, teaching psychotherapy rooted in self-compassion. Author of Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy and How to Stay Human in a F*cked Up World, he led a team at Google that developed a practice for predicting counselor efficacy. Desmond is also a student of Thich Nhat Hanh.

Reviews

[lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this - a quick and accessible read with tons of case examples to illustrate how clinicians can use self-compassion with their clients. It was a bit repetitive at times, but I ultimately liked the way that this kept the concepts fresh in my mind. The book itself is written in a soothing and compassionate tone, making it a pleasure to leisurely read. I'm inspired not only to use these concepts in my clinical work, but to strengthen my own personal dedication to mindfulness and self-compassion in daily life.

[Josh Dodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for psychotherapists

A fantastic resource for therapists looking to integrate a focus on self-compassion into their practices. This book is beautifully written and filled with case examples that bring the concepts to life. As a psychodynamic and relational psychotherapist whose private practice is focused primarily on patients who are successful but feel empty, I've found these concepts a wonderful fit and a natural complement to the work I'm already doing.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an informative, clear and practical book! The author’s examples are spot on and beautifully illustrate his points. I plan on giving this book and/or training sessions to both friends who are new to self-compassion and to those who have tried various self-healing therapies for years. This book combines ancient Buddhist teachings and modern day neuroscience in an easily accessible way. Finally, a mindfulness practice I can use.

[Graham Yates-osteopath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to follow self compassion therapy sessions, with good detail as to why the therapies were led the way they were.Like James-Lange theory, a lot of emphasis put on the physicality of emotion and how its observation and self compassion can help reduce these bodily feelings and thereby calm the emotion.
I liked the use of Dialogue Based Mindfulness (DBM) which makes a lot of sense to me.
I am surprised at someone so young can have such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

[Lisa]

http://www.mindful.org/4-mindful-book...

[Vishnu · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone with any potential interest in self-compassion, I think this book is super! Of course, one could also read the books written by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer. What I especially liked about this book was that it situated self-compassion pretty explicitly within Buddhist teachings, while Neff and Germer's work do not do so. I think self-compassion is an awesome technique even independent of Buddhism, of course, but for me the technique has its theoretical roots in Buddhism, at least broadly conceived.

I guess my point is: I think self-compassion is great! And we should all read about it in one form or another.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I’m really digging this whole self-compassion thing. What I really love about this concept is the differentiation between self-esteem and self-compassion. We’ve spent so much time working with clients (and ourselves) to improve self-esteem, but what we overlook when we engage in this process is the fact that self-esteem inherently implies judgement of ourselves and comparison to others.

Self-compassion, on the other hand, frees us from that judgement and allows us to focus on the process; how we can treat ourselves with kindness, how we can interact mindfully with our internal landscape, how we can approach our weaknesses and shortcomings gently, and with (you guessed it) compassion.

This book offers an excellent overview of self-compassion as a therapeutic concept and provides some killer suggestions for practical application. Desmond includes case studies and example sessions to help clinicians explore how to incorporate self-compassion into work with their clients.

The most unique and insightful thing about this book, though, is the author’s emphasis on the importance of our own self-compassion practice as mental health providers. The more we can cultivate self-compassion in our own lives and minds, the better prepared we are to effectively help others in their own discovery process.