Experiencing compassion-focused therapy from the inside out: a self-practice/self-reflection workbook for therapists PDF
Preview Experiencing compassion-focused therapy from the inside out: a self-practice/self-reflection workbook for therapists
ebook THE GUILFORD PRESS EXPERIENCING COMPASSION-FOCUSED THERAPY FROM THE INSIDE OUT SELF-PRACTICE/SELF-REFLECTION GUIDES FOR PSYCHOTHERAPISTS James Bennett-Levy, Series Editor This series invites therapists to enhance their effectiveness “from the inside out” using self- practice/self-reflection (SP/SR). Books in the series lead therapists through a structured three- stage process of focusing on a personal or professional issue they want to change, practicing therapeutic techniques on themselves (self-practice), and reflecting on the experience (self- reflection). Research supports the unique benefits of SP/SR for providing insights and skills not readily available through more conventional training procedures. This approach is suitable for therapists at all levels of experience, from trainees to experienced supervisors. Series volumes have a large-size format for ease of use and feature reproducible worksheets and forms that purchasers can download and print. Initial releases cover cognitive-behavioral therapy, schema therapy, and compassion-focused therapy; future titles will cover acceptance and commitment therapy and other evidence-based treatments. Experiencing CBT from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists James Bennett-Levy, Richard Thwaites, Beverly Haarhoff, and Helen Perry Experiencing Schema Therapy from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists Joan M. Farrell and Ida A. Shaw Experiencing Compassion-Focused Therapy from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists Russell L. Kolts, Tobyn Bell, James Bennett-Levy, and Chris Irons Experiencing Compassion‑Focused Therapy from the Inside Out A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists Russell L. Kolts Tobyn Bell James Bennett-Levy Chris Irons Foreword by Paul Gilbert THE GUILFORD PRESS New York London Copyright © 2018 The Guilford Press A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc. 370 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1200, New York, NY 10001 www.guilford.com All rights reserved Except as noted, no part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper. Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 LIMITED DUPLICATION LICENSE These materials are intended for use only by qualified mental health professionals. The publisher grants to individual purchasers of this book nonassignable permission to reproduce all materials for which permission is specifically granted in a footnote. This license is limited to you, the individual purchaser, for personal use only. This license does not grant the right to reproduce these materials for resale, redistribution, electronic display, or any other purposes (including but not limited to books, pamphlets, articles, video- or audiotapes, blogs, file-sharing sites, Internet or intranet sites, and handouts or slides for lectures, workshops, or webinars, whether or not a fee is charged). Permission to reproduce these materials for these and any other purposes must be obtained in writing from the Permissions Department of Guilford Publications. The authors have checked with sources believed to be reliable in their efforts to provide information that is complete and generally in accord with the standards of practice that are accepted at the time of publication. However, in view of the possibility of human error or changes in behavioral, mental health, or medical sciences, neither the authors, nor the editors and publisher, nor any other party who has been involved in the preparation or publication of this work warrants that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete, and they are not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from the use of such information. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information contained in this book with other sources. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kolts, Russell L., editor. Title: Experiencing compassion-focused therapy from the inside out : a self-practice/self-reflection workbook for therapists / Russell L. Kolts and 3 others ; foreword by Paul Gilbert. Description: New York : The Guilford Press, 2018. | Series: Self-practice/self-reflection guides for psychotherapists | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018014465| ISBN 9781462535255 (paperback) | ISBN 9781462535262 (hardcover) Subjects: LCSH: Emotion-focused therapy. | Compassion. | Cognitive therapy. | BISAC: MEDICAL / Psychiatry / General. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Work. | PSYCHOLOGY / Psychotherapy / General. Classification: LCC RC489.F62 E97 2018 | DDC 616.89/1425—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018014465 To my parents, John and Mary Kolts— everything that is good in me comes from you —R. L. K. To Alison, Joseph, Dad, Mum, and all my family for their love and support —T. B. To Judy, from whom I have learned so much about the true nature of compassion —J. B.-L. To my grandparents, who each in their own way showed me what wisdom, strength, and caring commitment are —C. I. And to Paul Gilbert, who gave CFT to us all, and to the community of CFT trainers and practitioners— may it serve you well About the Authors Russell L. Kolts, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Eastern Washington University. An internationally recognized trainer in compassion-focused therapy (CFT), Dr. Kolts has pio- neered the use of CFT in the treatment of problematic anger. He has authored or coauthored numerous scholarly articles and books for both professionals and general readers, including Buddhist Psychology and CBT: A Practitioner’s Guide. Dr. Kolts has given a TEDx talk entitled “Anger, Compassion, and What It Means to be Strong,” and is founding director of the Inland Northwest Compassionate Mind Center in Spokane, Washington. Tobyn Bell, MSc, is a practitioner of CFT and cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT) based in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom. He is a CFT trainer for the Compassionate Mind Foundation and a CBT trainer, supervisor, and program lead at the Greater Manchester CBT Training Centre (National Health Service), which is associated with Manchester Uni- versity. He has published research on mental imagery and compassion and is a registered mental health nurse and trained mindfulness teacher. James Bennett-Levy, PhD, is Professor of Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being at the University of Sydney, Australia. As a psychotherapy trainer, he has taught in 22 coun- tries, and is one of the most published researchers in the field of therapist training. In particular, he has pioneered and written extensively about self-practice/self-reflection. Dr. Bennett-Levy is coauthor or coeditor of several widely cited books on CBT, including Expe- riencing CBT from the Inside Out. He is Editor of the Guilford series Self-Practice/Self- Reflection Guides for Psychotherapists. Chris Irons, PhD, DClinPsych, is Co-Director of Balanced Minds, an organization that provides CFT services, training, and resources in London, United Kingdom. He is a board member of the Compassionate Mind Foundation and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Derby. Since the early 2000s, Dr. Irons has worked with Paul Gilbert and other colleagues on research and clinical developments linked to CFT. He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and books on compassion, attachment, shame, and self- criticism, and regu- larly provides CFT teaching, training, workshops, and retreats around the world. vi Foreword Psychotherapy is a process by which we use our own minds to try to understand the mind of another and create interactions that will be revelatory, healing, and trans- formative. In the early days of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, it was recognized that the therapist had to have enough personal insight and awareness to avoid projecting and getting caught up in his or her own defense mechanisms when engaging with the mind of the client. Personal therapy and experience were essential parts of the train- ing (Ellenberger, 1970). This understanding was not a new one: For thousands of years, contemplative traditions recognized that we could not “enlighten” others and help them engage with the inherent suffering of living until we ourselves had traveled that path. For both traditions, insight into oneself was deemed essential. With the advent of the cognitive and behavioral therapies, interventions became more technological and technique- focused. Behavior modification and exposure, along with cog- nitive reappraisal, became the focus of interventions, and the mind of the therapist faded into the background. Indeed, in the early days of cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT), one could become a therapist with very little insight into one’s own mind— the therapist might never have personally experienced the therapeutic techniques he or she was applying or advocating because many in CBT didn’t emphasize the importance of therapists experienc- ing the treatments they were delivering. This is a somewhat medical approach, in which one doesn’t need to have cancer to treat it, and one doesn’t need to have experienced sur- gery to become a great surgeon. But learning to do psychotherapy is not like learning the technical skills needed by surgeons. It is more like learning to drive and teaching people to drive. In this analogy, your mind is like a car. You may have ridden in a lot of cars, but only by actually driving one do you become good at driving. It is through the actual experience of driving that we develop the skill to respond, moment by moment, to the changing con- ditions of the road. Driving is an extraordinary behavior involving multitasking: one may be changing gears, accelerating or braking, maybe having a conversation, and monitoring other drivers, the conditions of the road, and the direction of travel. vii viii Foreword As therapists, we are also required to simultaneously hold many different experi- ences arising within us. We are detecting and responding automatically to the flow of interactions, making sense of what’s happening for our clients, and determining how best to be helpful. Indeed, sometimes we can be so focused on what we think might be the technically correct thing to do that we lose empathic contact with our clients. If you want to become a more skillful driver, you wouldn’t just do an online course. You would go on an advanced driving course in which you actually drive over difficult ter- rain. If you want to become a skilled therapist, technical skills are essential, of course, but having greater insight into your own moment- by- moment process is going to be help you immensely. It raises the issue of declarative versus procedural knowledge, which in many ways is a focus for this book. This approach of psychotherapy “from the inside out” is a key passion of one of the authors (James Bennett- Levy), who has articulated why technical skill should be matched by learning through self- practice and self- reflection in a way that is central to the ongoing process of therapeutic development. In such an approach, the mind remains in a state of curiosity about process. Maintaining this open curiosity can be achieved only by reflectively using some of the interventions of a therapy on ourselves. Consequently, we gain an internal experience of therapeutic techniques, noting unexpected difficul- ties, fears, blocks, and resistances— and at times simply observing, “Oh, I didn’t realize that.” But equally important, with compassionate mind cultivation, we begin to observe the process of change, the strengthening and the development of the abilities to tolerate, to empathize, to feel grounded, to have a gentler orientation to the world, to deal with conflicts and setbacks in different ways, to tune into the fears behind self- criticism, and to replace them with a compassionate orientation to self and others. In addition, we develop a courageous dedication. Compassionate mind cultivation also enables us to feel more at peace and even joyful, living more mindfully, and appreciating and savoring the sensory complexity of the world around us. This book is designed to help you learn compassionate mind training through genuine experience, which can create powerful shifts in how you approach life and work in the therapy room. In doing so, it invites you to think about a particular model of the human mind and a way of cultivating the mind so that you can approach life from a deeply compassionate orientation. It’s a challenge. Compassion- focused therapy (CFT) is an integrative psychotherapy that utilizes many well- established therapeutic interventions— including thought and emotion monitoring, inference chaining, reap- praisal, behavioral exposure, and rehearsal, to name just a few. You will meet these practices in the pages to come. When it comes to building, exploring, and cultivating a particular pattern we call the “compassionate self,” you will engage in acting techniques that will prompt you to imagine what it would be like to be a deeply compassionate person, and how you would feel, think, and behave from this compassionate perspec- tive. Compassionate mind training also shares many features found in Eastern contem- plative traditions, such as mindfulness, groundedness, bodywork, and the cultivation of the compassionate self (in Buddhism, it’s called cultivating bodhicitta). Personal
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