THERAPIES
Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT)
Credit: YouTV
“I will never be good enough.”
It’s not surprising that in the age of instantaneous access to social media and constant scrutiny by frenemies, our external (and internal) critics are harsher than ever. But here’s the thing. Unhelpful self-criticism often leaves a devastating effect on your mental health and emotional well-being.
Who is Compassion-Focused Therapy for?
Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) was designed to help those suffering from mental health issues triggered by emotions such as shame or fear, to cope and feel better. Developed based on the theory of evolution, CFT considers the interactions between our social motivation systems (like companionship, forming hierarchies and groups, and need for belonging) and our 3 emotional systems, and highlights that a balance between these systems is crucial for our mental health and emotional well-being.
Our emotional systems are:
1. Threat response system
Ψ serves to help us notice threats quickly
Ψ associated with feelings of anxiety, anger or disgust
Ψ elicits fight, flight or submission responses
2. Drive system
Ψ emotion & motivational signals guide us towards important resources like food, alliances, etc
Ψ associated with feelings of excitement, energized, ‘hyped up’
Ψ elicits motivation to seek out things
3. Safety system
Ψ feeling content or safe when not threatened and not seeking resources
Ψ associated with feelings of peacefulness, positive well-being, being ‘soothed’
Ψ elicits care, warmth, acceptance, kindness
Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to find a balance between the 3 systems. This balance is affected by countless factors and the pressures we face in our everyday lives make it even harder to maintain the balance. When this balance is upset, it throws our lives into disarray.
Take our threat response system for example; a small degree of stress brought about by an imminent threat can be a powerful motivator to take immediate action. However, once those stress levels become unmanageable, it is more likely that you will fail in whatever action you are taking (from stress hormones and all that jazz, which has been known to cause younger jazz musicians a considerable degree of stress).
Overusing your drive system in an endless pursuit of checking boxes can increase stress levels from that possibility (threat) of failing. And we all know where this goes. A bowl full of agitation, disappointment and shame for our inner critic to feed on.
And yes, although these systems were initially used by our ancestors for physical survival, human society has evolved to the point that our systems react not just to physical stimuli, but also mental ones. Negative self-criticism and issues with self-image often place our systems under more pressure than they can handle.
All in all, CFT is meant for those suffering from mental health issues reinforced with high levels of shame and self-criticism. It teaches practical skills to help people bring into balance the brain’s three emotional systems so they can self-soothe and deal with difficult emotions such as Anger, Shame, Anxiety, Fear, Depression, and Self-Criticism.
Fun fact:
What does compassion in CFT mean? Compassion in CFT refers to specific attributes and skills which therapy will help to instill into individuals. For example, some attributes of compassion are empathy, care for well-being and sensitivity to distress. Learning about the attributes can give you an idea of how compassion feels like, and learning the skills can assist you in building a compassionate relationship with yourself and others.