Helpful Information and Resources
What is formulation?
Formulation will draw on psychological theory and research to provide a framework for describing a client’s problems or needs, how it developed and is being maintained. (Division of Clinical Psychology, BPS, 2010)
The British Psychological Society have created a really helpful leaflet about formulation for young people, but I think most of the information is relevant to any age group.
Find the leaflet here
Compassion Focused Therapy Self Help Resources
Books
The Compassionate Mind Workbook
This workbook is a step-by-step guide to CFT, in which the chapters build your understanding of yourself, the skills that give rise to a compassionate mind, and ways to work with whatever difficulties you’re struggling with in life. The exercises, prompts and case stories in this book provide an understandable and practical way to develop compassion.
The Compassion Mind Guide to Recovering from Trauma and PTSD
This approach invites readers who have undergone a traumatic experience to develop compassion for themselves and others, a sense of safety, and the ability to self-soothe when difficult memories or emotions arise. Written by an international expert on PTSD treatment, this book will prove to be an essential resource for therapists specializing in the treatment of trauma and anyone in the process of healing from a traumatic experience.
The Compassionate Mind Approach to Recovering from Trauma using Compassion Focused Therapy
'Recovering from Trauma' uses the ground breaking Compassion Focused Therapy to help the reader to not only develop a fuller understanding of how we react to trauma, but also to deal with any feelings of shame and start to overcome any trauma-related difficulties.
The Compassionate Mind Guide to Managing your Anger
The Compassionate-Mind Guide to Managing Your Anger will show you how to take responsibility for your anger and your life by cultivating a new strength: the power of compassion. Based in compassion-focused therapy, these skills and techniques will help you replace angry habits, gain control of your emotions, and improve your relationships.
Building your Self Confidence using Compassion Focused Therapy
Many of us have a tendency to measure our self-worth by comparing ourselves to others. But when we fail to reach our own, families, communities or societies 'ideals' this often results in feelings of inadequacy, anxiety and low mood. We may become self-critical, experience shame and a sense of being different from others. Although an improvement in 'self-esteem' is what we may feel we want this is not necessarily what we need. This is because self-esteem is often associated with times when things are going well but can fail us when things do not go to plan. In contrast self-confidence, built from self-compassion, can help us when things are going well and make us more resilient when things are difficult. This book uses the ideas and practices of Compassion Focused Therapy to help build self-confidence.
Schema Therapy Self Help Resources
Books
Breaking Negative Thinking Patterns
A schema therapy self help and resource book which explains in accessible language the mode approach to schema therapy and provides examples and exercises to help you work on your relationship with yourself and others. This is a helpful guide for alongside individual therapy.
This very accessible self help book looks at 11 schema based 'life traps' which underlie emotional and relationship difficulties. This is a good introduction to the schema therapy approach and provides useful real life examples.
A video explaining some of the elements of schema therapy.
EMDR
Managing Boundaries in Difficult Relationships
Books
Toxic Parents - Overcoming their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming your Life.
All parents fall short from time to time. But Susan Forward pulls no punches when it comes to those whose deficiencies cripple their children emotionally. Her brisk, unreserved guide to overcoming the stultifying agony of parental manipulation—from power trips to guilt trips and all other killers of self worth—will help deal with the pain of childhood and move beyond the frustrating relationship patterns learned at home.
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
If you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, or abandonment. You may recall your childhood as a time when your emotional needs were not met, when your feelings were dismissed, or when you took on adult levels of responsibility in an effort to compensate for your parent’s behavior. These wounds can be healed, and you can move forward in your life.
In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect, and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. By freeing yourself from your parents’ emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment. Finally, you’ll learn how to create positive, new relationships so you can build a better life.
Co-parenting with a Toxic Ex: What to Do When Your Ex-Spouse Tries to Turn the Kids Against You
In Co-parenting with a Toxic Ex, a nationally recognized parenting expert offers you a positive parenting approach to dealing with a hostile ex-spouse. You'll learn to avoid the most common mistakes of coparenting, how to avoid "parental alienation syndrome," and effective techniques for talking to your children in a way that fosters open and honest response. In addition, you'll learn how to protect your children from painful loyalty conflicts between you and your ex-spouse. Divorce is often painful, especially if your ex habitually tries to undermine your relationship with your children. But with the right tools you can protect your kids and make your relationship with them stronger than ever. This book can show you how.
Grieving Relationship Separation
Books
Breaking Upwards: How to Manage the Emotional Impact of Separation
Divorce is not just a legal process, it's an emotional one too. The break-up of a relationship can be devastating, leaving you overwhelmed with anger and grief. As Charlotte Friedman shows it doesn't have to be that way. A former family barrister, Friedman decided to move from the courtroom to the therapist's chair in order to help people manage the emotional fall-out of divorce. She offers calm, therapeutic advice on everything from how to manage loneliness to letting go of grievance, and draws on illuminating case studies to answer questions such as:
How long before I get over this divorce?
How do I tell the children?
How do I cope with the new partner in my ex's life?
This book is designed to give you the confidence to create a genuinely positive new story.
An article describing the process of grief.
Social Anxiety
Books
Improving Social Confidence and Reducing Shyness Using Compassion Focused Therapy
Shyness can affect most of us to varying degrees, and tends to affect children more than adults as people tend to grow in confidence as they get older. It is therefore a universal emotion but in some people it is a more pronounced personality trait. Severe shyness is referred to as 'social anxiety disorder', however this self-help book is written for the people experiencing different degrees of shyness. Shyness has evolved as an emotion over thousands of years and can be helpful in some circumstances, however normal shyness can become chronic thanks to negative thoughts, avoidance and withdrawal. While shyness has its functions, it becomes a problem when it interferes with life goals, develops into social anxiety disorder or leads on to 'learned pessimism', mild depression and even 'learned helplessness'. This self-help book, based on the groundbreaking new Compassion Focused Therapy, sets out the background to shyness - its evolutionary functions, why it becomes chronic in some people, and sets out skills and exercises based on CFT to help the reader overcome problematic shyness.
Building your Self Confidence using Compassion Focused Therapy
Many of us have a tendency to measure our self-worth by comparing ourselves to others. But when we fail to reach our own, families, communities or societies 'ideals' this often results in feelings of inadequacy, anxiety and low mood. We may become self-critical, experience shame and a sense of being different from others. Although an improvement in 'self-esteem' is what we may feel we want this is not necessarily what we need. This is because self-esteem is often associated with times when things are going well but can fail us when things do not go to plan. In contrast self-confidence, built from self-compassion, can help us when things are going well and make us more resilient when things are difficult. This book uses the ideas and practices of Compassion Focused Therapy to help build self-confidence.
Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Books
An acceptance and commitment therapy self help book which describes the evolution of 'difficult' emotions such as anxiety and how to have a different and less distressing relationship with anxious thoughts and body sensations.
A CBT based self help guide to managing panic attacks.