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About the author
PAUL GILBERT is professor of clinical psychology at the University of Derby and, until his retirement from the NHS in 2016, was consultant clinical psychologist at the Derbyshire Health Care Foundation Trust. He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology for over 40 years with a special focus on the roles of mood, shame and self-criticism in various mental health difficulties for which compassion focused therapy was developed. He has written and edited many books on psychology, therapy, and compassion. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in March 2011 for services to mental health.
Summary
DEVELOP YOUR FEELINGS OF COMPASSION AND INCREASE YOUR SENSE OF WELLBEING
In societies that encourage us to compete with each other, compassion is often seen as a weakness. Striving to get ahead, self-criticism, fear, and hostility towards others seem to come more naturally to us.
The Compassionate Mind explains the evolutionary and social reasons why our brains react so readily to threats - and reveals how our brains are also hardwired to respond to kindness and compassion.
Research has found that developing kindness and compassion for ourselves and others builds our confidence, helps us create meaningful, caring relationships and promotes physical and mental health. Far from fostering emotional weakness, practical exercises focusing on developing compassion have been found to subdue our anger and increase our courage and resilience to depression and anxiety.
