Cft session 5
- 1. Compassion Focused therapy Session 5 Compassionate Awareness Cultivating Mindfulness
- 2. Layers: Cft builds in layers: • Safe group space • Understanding vs self-blame • New layer: Mindful Awareness
- 3. Mindfulness: If we are to work with our suffering, we must be able to tolerate it, stay with it Mindfulness allows us to pay attention to the present moment (outside and inside our brains) We allow ourselves to just be with our experience, to notice and observe without judging, criticizing, or blaming
- 4. Mindful Awareness Useful for people who are haunted by self- critical thoughts The problem is not that we have these thoughts (most people do from time to time) The problem comes when we ruminate on them, rehearse them and believe them
- 5. Mindfulness Mindfulness allows us to see thoughts and feelings as mind objects instead of who we are
- 6. Three Flower Pots Imagine three flower pots:
- 7. Mindfulness It doesn’t matter what you put in front of your minds’ eye, it will always be you looking at it
- 8. The voice inside our head Ever notice what happens in our minds during a lull in conversation? When we’re alone?
- 9. The Voice What is this voice? It never stops talking, and 70-80 % of what is says is negative It gets really loud when we’re trying to sleep: “Omigod, I forgot to call Fred, what is he going to think? I’ve got such a load tomorrow, I hate work, these kids are driving me crazy, maybe I’d be better off alone, I hate being alone, I’m going to be alone forever, what’s wrong with you? Get your act together, what if? What if? Some thing bad is going to happen, I just know it, I’m such an idiot, how could it not. It’s not fair, why do things have to be so unfair, I hate my life, what a disaster, my mother was right, I’ll never be anything, no wonder everyone leaves me… and on and on and on….
- 10. The Voice Is this voice you?
- 11. Who is this voice? This voice is not you You are the one who is hearing it Nothing it says is any more real than anything else in your mind (remember the three flowerpots)
- 12. Why does it talk? The talking releases built up nervous, fearful or desire-based energy.. Like a teakettle whistling When you are angry with someone, how many times do you tell them off inside of your head? It talks because we are not okay inside and talking releases stored energy
- 13. The Manic Roommate Imagine you spend the day just listening to the voice Your inner voice never stops chattering, observing, fortune-telling, criticizing. It changes its mind, is conflicted, jumps from one thing to another Now imagine this a person sitting next to you on the couch, a roommate you take everywhere
- 14. The Manic Roommate Image if you had to listen to the incessant, neurotic, conflicting chatter all day from a real person How long would we last? Would we pay this person money to advise us on finances, relationships, our future?
- 15. The Maniac Roommate Why do we give it all of our attention, and believe every word it says? Have we ever bothered to check it’s credentials? How often is it right/wrong? Where will we put our attention?
- 16. Attention Practice Attention is like the spotlight of the mind
- 17. Let’s practice.. Series of words When you hear the word, direct your attention to where the word indicates So if I say “left elbow” direct your attention to your left elbow….
- 18. Let’s discuss… How quickly could you shift your attention was is fast or slow? Notice how you could switch from something very narrow, like your elbow to something very broad like world peace
- 19. Mindfulness Practice Mindful check-in Why? Develop the habit of bringing attention to body experiences, get used to noticing Notice without judging Easy practice to transfer to life in general Thinking vs observing Thinking about your feet vs observing your feet
- 20. Practice: Tactile anchor point Choose a stone Just notice qualities.. Mindfulness practice pg 114 green book
- 21. Benefits of Mindful Practice Mindfulness can grow parts of the brain that are involved with feelings of self-soothing and emotional regulation After 8 weeks of practice the amygdala (or fear center) shrinks Brain registers less physical pain (source: Scientific American Website) Develops ability to pause and choose action, instead of gut reacting
- 22. How Mindfulness affects the brain: Video Sara Lazar, Harvard Universtiy 8 weeks, 30-40 mins per day of Meditation causes an increase in areas of: Thinking, planning and emotional control Compassion and understanding And a decrease in: fear and anxiety
- 23. Summary and Homework: Mindfulness allows us to observe without judgment, developing compassion It allows us to tolerate and work with difficult emotions It sets the stage for the rest of the CFT program, cultivating compassionate strengths Homework Practice for two mins per day (set timer) and record reaction in journal
Editor's Notes
- #7: Ask yourself two questions: does this object feel like the whole you or is it an object of your mind?
- #17: Page 93 of CFT book
- #18: Say: right ear, (wait two-three seconds in between each), left foot, your tongue, the feeling of your breath, the feel of light on your closed eyelids, your favorite color, popcorn!, justice, world peace, the beach, what you’d like to have for dinner, allow your face to form a smile… the body sensation that comes with smiling….
- #20: Pg 94 CFT made simple
- #23: Google video, How meditation effects the brain