INTRODUCTION TO COMPASSION FOCUSSED THERAPY
with Dr Stan Steindl and Dr James Kirby
18-20 March 2026, Brisbane
OVERVIEW OF WORKSHOP
Compassion Focused Therapy is an innovative therapy which has become increasingly popular amongst a range of health professionals. CFT was originally developed for clients with high-levels of self-criticism and shame and has a growing evidence-base for a variety of clinical disorders and presentations, including with depression, anxiety, as well as complex trauma, PTSD, and psychosis. Practicing compassion has been shown to have powerful effects on physiological, psychological and social processes.
(Super early bird before 20 Dec 2025 $849, Early bird before 30 Jan $895; Full price $995)
STUDENTS: 25% Discount
For Discount Code, contact event organiser or email: compassiontrainingaustralia@gmail.com
*Fees include GST
LOCATION
Victoria Park
309 Herston Rd, Herston, Brisbane QLD 4006
WORKSHOP DETAILS
INTRODUCTION TO COMPASSION FOCUSED THERAPY (3-day: 18-20 March 2026)
18 CPD hours of professional development for health practitioners
Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) brings an evolutionary framework to the conceptualisation of mental health problems and their alleviation. Practicing compassion has been shown to have powerful effects on the mind, body, and social processes. This introductory course is designed to encourage the use of practices that stimulate compassionate mental states and those that build a sense of the compassionate self-identity.
Workshop Objectives:
1. Gain an understanding of how evolutionary functional analysis advances our understanding of mental health difficulties and in particular the importance of the evolution of attachment, caring and affiliation as part of the human affect motivation and regulation systems
2. Gain an understanding of the 3 system affect regulation model (threat, drive and affiliative-soothing), which informs compassion-focused interventions
3. Be exposed to key compassion-focused skills including the use of the breath and body postures, the practice of compassion focused imagery, the use of compassionate mind training to build the “compassionate self”, employing the “compassionate self” to engage with areas of personal difficulty ,and building supportive social relationships.
4. Gain an understanding of how CFT may be applied to clients with different problems in which there is a non-affiliative relationship with self and/or others (e.g. eating disorders, personality disorders, anxiety, depression, shame, psychosis etc).
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
DR STAN STEINDL
Stan is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice at Psychology Consultants Pty Ltd, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland. He is also co-director of the UQ Compassionate Mind Research Group, and convenor of the annual UQ Compassion Symposium. Stan has over 30 years experience as a therapist, supervisor, trainer and researcher, and works with clients from motivational interviewing and compassion focused therapy perspectives.
Stan’s research interests are in the areas of motivation, behaviour change, compassion and compassion-based interventions, and especially the role of cultivating compassion and self- compassion in the context of trauma, shame, self-criticism and clinical disorders, as well as promoting psychological well-being. He is the author of The Gifts of Compassion: How to Understand and Overcome Suffering (2020), and is host of the popular YouTube channel and podcast Compassion in a T-Shirt.
DR JAMES KIRBY
James N. Kirby, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor, Clinical Psychologist, Director of the Clinical Programs, and the Co-Director of the Compassionate Mind Research Group at the University of Queensland. He examines the clinical effectiveness of compassion focused interventions. James is also an Honorary Associate Professor of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, an Honorary Member of the Compassionate Mind Foundation UK, a Fellow of the Mind & Life Institute, and a founding board member of the Global Compassion Coalition. He has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles. In 2022 he authored Choose Compassion, and in 2020 he co-edited Making an Impact on Mental Health. His a new book just published by Routledge is called, The Essentials of Compassion Focused Therapy: A Practice Manual for Clinicians.
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