The Compassionate Mind

The Compassionate Mind is essentially an amalgam of different psychological strands brought together with the central tenet of discovering more compassion for the way you lead your life, often over-looked and confused in the western hemisphere with building self-esteem. At the same time - as the title might suggest - the book leaves you with the feeling that it is much greater than the sum of its parts, especially in its delving into key aspects of Buddhism. A crucial outlining at the start, are the three evolutionary emotional regulation systems that form the way our brains and subconscious minds work via archetypes or social mentalities. They are influenced by culture/nurture (i.e. our phenotype) and nature (i.e. our genotype) making each person's wiring-up a unique conscious experience. The three systems are labelled self-threat/protection, incentive/resource and soothing/contentment. Gaining insights into the negative traits of these three distinct areas of the brain is a very useful exercise, especially in how the rush of hormones associated with each of them make repeat experiences almost inevitable. Knowing this greatly infects the 'be easy on yourself' approach that is a crucial part of the joy in reading this book. As well as concentrating on personal self-acceptance and well-being there are also insights into how compassion can be a healthy part of any organisation. It is interesting to read examples of Paul Gilbert's recent experiences of working in the NHS which has adopted the business model. In particular to see the effects of over-systematising the incentive and protection systems at the expense of human kindness that eventually becomes self-defeating and emotionally unsustainable. As Gilbert puts it, a singular quest for greater efficiencies can "play havoc with our minds, morale and ability to develop cooperative working relationships." He then goes on to describe that "managers who are only results focused...and who can't inspire people to do their best, end up wasting money.. and a team of the lesser talented is likely to beat one made up of those who are more gifted but are treated as marketable objects who don't cooperate." Maybe an explanation for Team England and their abject performance at the 2010 football World Cup? In analysing the evolutionary triune brain and the unique signature of wires which have become crossed between the various parts (to quote Hebb's famous rule that "neurons that fire together, wire together) the reader is guided through the traps of evolutionary inheritance. The positive underlying message, however, is that a course of mindfulness, appreciation, curiosity and compassion can become antidotes to our automatically programmed social mentalities, and the latter half of the book is devoted to outlining and building the compassionate Self via a series of skills and exercises. A key chapter in self-building is entitled from 'Self-criticism to Self-compassion' which I found the most useful especially in its distinction between shame and guilt with regard to transgressions, and self-esteem versus self-criticism: "..self-esteem tends to increase when you are doing well - it focuses on getting ahead of others, and is rather self-focused. Self-compassion concentrates on how we treat ourselves (and others) when things are going badly". There are so many gems of wisdom in this book that it is hard to credibly summarise the reading experience, only to say that a life-changing work for individuals and groups isn't far off the mark.

I'm a psychotherapist (UKCP registered) and CBT practitioner myself and I've been fortunate enough to hear Prof. Gilbert speak about his approach. (I remember my ears pricked up at his references to Pink Floyd, not referenced in this book, but we learn he's also a Star Trek fan, adding flashes of personality to a potentially quite academic subject.) His emphasis on compassion does seem to address a weakness in "traditional" CBT, especially for certain traumatised or depressed clients. It's also closely linked to the whole mindfulness-based orientation. My special interst is in Stoic philosophy which I was pleased to see Prof. Gilbert discusses briefly, but favourably, throughout chapter 9, recognising the similarities with Oriental Buddhist practices. I see this as a form of CBT that will appeal more to humanistic therapists and also, with its references to Jungian archetypes and Bowlby's attachment theory, to psychodynamic therapists who find themselves becoming involved with the cognitive-behavioural field. There's also a notable emphasis on what evolutionary psychology tells us about our brain and emotions. However, although it's quite thick (nearly 600 pages!) this is an engaging book, easy to read, and bound to be immensely helpful both to therapists and clients, as it's written in what I would call a popular science or self-help style and intended to be used as a practical guide to cultivating therapeutic compassion and self-acceptance for one's own wellbeing. Donald Robertson, author of, The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy The Discovery of Hypnosis: The Complete Writings of James Braid the Father of Hypnotherapy The Practice of Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy

I came to this book soon after reading Karen Armstrong's Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life and the common purpose was striking; to help us all become more compassionate, to ourselves and others, so that we may then build a better more compassionate world and become happier, kinder and healthier individuals in the process. The book is built around "compassionate mind training" and the idea, now with some scientific evidence, is that we have the wiring in our brain for compassion, and that we have evolved to thrive on caring behaviour, on kindness and compassion. The problem is that too often our "old brain" reptilian instincts of the four F's (feeding, fighting, fleeing and ...reproduction) take control of our lives. The very good news for humanity is that our propensity for compassion not only reflects the genes we are born with, but also to some extent is a result of the effect of early upbringing, and very significantly can be developed with the right exercises and practices - "physiotherapy for the brain." Part One, in 6 chapters over c. 250 pages shares the science - how our minds and brains work and why compassion is a powerful healing process. This understanding, he stresses, is important for us in being able to most effectively develop that compassionate mind. He explains ten life challenges that we will meet along the way, such as competitive business efficiency that threatens our need for interconnectedness, (business efficiency he says is "crippling our hearts"), and the tragedies of life that can send us to despair and depression rather than compassion. He also writes of the three basic emotion regulation systems that evolution has given us: threat and self- protection, incentive and resource seeking, and our soothing and contentment system. The balance between these systems plays an essential role in our day -to- day feelings and our mental health. Compassion is our potential antidote for these getting out of balance. And he reminds us of the responsibility we can take on board to train our minds in this way for a better world for us all. Compassion is a "multivitamin for the mind," he writes. Part Two - over 7 chapters and another c. 250 pages brings us the skills and exercises, for building the compassionate self, based on mindfulness, meditation, breathing, imagery, directed thoughts, self compassion, coping with anxiety and anger, addressing our own tendency towards tribalism and cruelty, our imagination and fantasies, our curiosity, moving from self criticism to self shame, compassionate writing and much more besides. Some exercises are physical, some written, with or without set worksheets, and he invites the reader to open a journal for recording feelings, progress, set backs, poems, whatever becomes relevant through the training process. Bringing the compassion we learn into our own lives and into society will create a more fun world, with better lifestyles. "Our competitive edge economics is driving us all slightly crazy!" he writes. The final chapter reflects on the social significance of compassionate mind training and is an essential message of the book. There are final worksheets to support and guide us as we continue our compassion training. It is a life long process. But training compassionate minds to build compassionate societies is vital and responsible work. He calls for a review of child education, and the need to introduce compassion, empathy and conflict resolution training for example into the classroom. There is the need for better more compassionate support for our children "in care." We need a more focused mature and compassionate politics, a return to compassionate care in the National Health Service, a change of business style from aggressive competition to compassionate cooperation. And he calls for us to support causes that promote a more compassionate world, locally and globally, including ethical investment, compassionate education, support and care for marginalised youth, Compassion in World Farming. These are just a few of his ideas and they follow such closely similar lines of thought to those in my own recent book, Healing this Wounded Earth: with Compassion, Spirit and the Power of Hope, that I find myself in total agreement with most if not all of what he says in this regard. In the sheer depth and breadth of material covered, in its logical sequencing and detail of compassion training provided, this is a very good book. It is also well referenced and indexed and I liked the "Find Out More" list at the end of the book with useful books, websites, DVDs and CDs. But the book is too long. It was to say the least an arduous read, in spite of the easy engaging style employed. This style I think has sacrificed brevity. I appreciate that Part One provides the understanding to support the training in Part Two, and that this training is a life long practice, to be taken step by step as gently and compassionately as necessary. But the sheer volume of material confronting the reader will very likely daunt those who are coming to this book from a position of depression or anxiety or self- criticism, hoping for healing. Gilbert does point out, well into the book at p. 347, that some will need to obtain further professional help and support. For those already in therapy, and for their therapists, it will doubtless be a very valuable tool. Whereas Armstrong calls for bringing compassion back into the heart of moral and religious life, as set out in her Charter for Compassion, Gilbert does not believe in God as creator and clearly thinks that religions are at least potentially a part of our problem in the twenty first century world. Spiritual traditions over the centuries have tended to emphasise life as suffering from which we are trying to escape. But he demolishes ideas of religion and spirituality with, perhaps not surprisingly, a charm offensive, a gently persuasive logic that is a welcome departure from the strident, disdainful, even aggressive tones we hear from some militant atheist best sellers. Spirituality needs to be scientific and compassionate, he concludes. Gilbert ends with a reminder that many millions of people across the world are working to make it a better place. He also refers to Barack Obama's inaugural speech that includes evidence of a "deep sense of compassion." These items together he believes can give us hope for a better more compassionate era, "maybe, just maybe."

As a Christian I hesitated for weeks before buying this book having read some of the reviews about the way this book deals with Christian topics. When I read this book I felt that it dealt very well with the spiritual aspect of our lifes. Bear in mind that very few self help books are even courageous enough to deal with the issue of religion. At no point does Paul Gilbert suggest that you should or should not take one point of view, he simply describes his interpretation of the holy books and the strong points and weak points of different religions from his point of view as a psychologist. Also the challenges that committing to a certain faith can present. He makes no secret of his position and makes it clear that it is his position. In life we will always come across others of different faiths, as Christians we have to be strong enough to listen to other positions and yet stay strong in our own faith, just as anyone of any religion or of no religion does. I have found this book immensely helpful in understanding a loved one who has suffered from severe depression and with my own struggle to be truly compassionate. It also reminded me of the courage we are intstructed to have as Christians and also of how the bible is full of compassion for ourselves, our loved ones and our enemies. Luke 23:34 for example. Similarly I learned mindfulness, which many see as a Buddhist tradition only to discover that the Christian faith and many others are equally full of the tradition to be still and silent for some time each day. If you are a Christian seeking help for you or a loved one I would not hesitate to buy this book as I did. I wish I'd bought it sooner. Keep your faith always at the centre of things and I'm certain you will find help both from God and from this book. If you are not a Christian, this book will certainly help you and you need not think that it has any emphasis on religion. It does not, I think it just sparks a debate precisely because it is bold enough to deal with the issues. Word of warning though, I would agree the first half is not for the faint hearted, it all comes good in the second though, which makes you realise it was worth the effort.

Really helpful book to read.

This book is more for those who are in depth studiers rather than someone wanting a quick fix. Some good stories qnd ideas here . My stumble block was the author is clearly an atheist so is unable to really explain why we are like we are. He grapples and blindly feels in the dark for an explanation and hope. Although I agree that 'religion' has its issues; I personally, through having a belief and relationship in and with Jesus Christ; and the bibles explanations of sin and fallen mankind , feel I can see why we don't always have the compassion we should. If you truly have the spirit of God in your life, compassion and love will be there . No 'working' at it. Despite this there are some good exercises to help develop a compassionate mind . A very long book .

As a recently qualified therapist, I decided to read a little around Compassion Focused Therapy and came across the work of Paul Gilbert. Then I found this book and I am elated that I did, it was longer than I expected, 500 pages but that only makes ir even better value for money. As an introduction, this book is fantastic and relevant. It has enspired me, both personally and professional as a therapist. It benefits from being well writen and well-informed so if you are looking to do a little self development or simply fancy an easy, interesting read on Compassion and how to bring it into your life- this is the book for you. I was sad to finish it and will certainly be purchasing more of Paul Gilbert's books.

I have heard Prof Gilbert speak on this subject and I can truly say that looking at the world with a compassion focus can change peoples self image , help them recognise and come to terms with all sorts of coaching issues like self doubt, distracting behaviours, procrastination etc. There are lots of practical exercises which are easy to follow and not scary for people new to the subject. I use it for my coaching & especially dating coaching too as often people need to re connect with themselves before choosing the type of partner for them . I would recommend this book to everyone especially in this busy consumer focussed world .. it gives you a new perspective !

Best

In this book, British Psychologist Paul Gilbert formally introduces us to the model that underlies his treatment model,Compassion-Focused Therapy. This book serves both as an introduction to the Compassionate Mind model and as a self-help book of sorts. In my perspective, this is a book that will benefit anyone who reads it, and will particularly benefit individuals struggling with issues of depression, anxiety, anger, or shame, clinicians in psychology or other helping fields, or anyone else who is generally interested in understanding their minds better and working with them in the pursuit of a happy life. The Compassionate Mind model operates from a premise that should be the basis of any valid psychology: that in order to work effectively with our minds and emotions, we need to understand something about how and why they work the way they do. In 'The Compassionate Mind,' Gilbert skillfully weaves together evolutionary psychology, affective neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and recent psychology applications of Buddhist mindfulness and compassion practices into a model which helps us understand that many of our problems originate in the very ways our brains evolved, and the ways in which they fit with modern life. The reader learns about the evolution of our threat systems and how they predispose us to difficult emotions that evolved to protect us but which have a troublesome fit with both our new brain capacities for fantasy and rumination and the cultural dynamics of modern life. In doing so, Gilbert makes a case for compassion that is both unique and powerful: not only, as the Dalai Lama suggests, is the cultivation of compassion good for us; it is also the only response that makes sense when we observe the difficult fit between our evolved minds and the demands of our lives. However, this model isn't just about understanding why our minds are so difficult to manage. It presents a theoretical model of emotion based in the neuroscience of affiliation which shows us how to work with them, and fully half of the book is dedicated to exercises for doing so. 'The Compassionate Mind' model teaches us how to work with our soothing/affiliative systems to bring balance to our affective responding, with particular emphasis given to mindfulness and the cultivation of self-compassion. One really nice thing about Gilbert's approach is that it is both deeply explanatory and intensely pragmatic - he wants us to understand our minds, but at the end of the day, his business is giving us practical tools for working with them. He does all of this in his friendly, conversational tone, so that it feels less like a dense read than a pleasant chat over a cup of tea, or perhaps a glass of red wine. Rather than writing a book in the attempt to capture this one, I'll simply state that if you've bothered to read this, you owe it to yourself to buy this book. While written for the general reader, it is also a wonderful read for clinicians who would like a friendly introduction to the Compassionate Mind model, which provides the basis for Compassion-Focused Therapy. For those who've read the above and note that there are already plenty of therapy models based upon Mindfulness and compassionate acceptance, I'd like to say that in my view, Compassion-Focused Therapy is not another "therapy model" per se, and seemingly doesn't seek to add itself to the already dizzying list of Empirically Supported Treatment models (although it certainly is the subject of much evolving empirical work); rather, CFT provides a frame for understanding and approaching psychological functioning generally and emotional difficulties in particular. As such, it provides a unifying framework that is compatible with many empirically-based therapy approaches, while providing therapists and clients with a better understanding of the way our minds work and a model for working with them effectively. In doing so, it introduces new ways of working with our clients (for example, the purposeful cultivation of compassion for oneself and others), and couches already-proven methods in a context of warmth and a theoretical understanding of affective functioning that may very well enhance their effectiveness. In my opinion, if you're looking to ride the "third wave" of therapy, this may very well be the longboard of choice. Enjoy!

Book was in perfect condition.

It’s a must read when diving in self compassion. Paul Gilbert takes time to explore ideas from the evolutionary perspective of the most common human experience: suffering.

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