Compassion Focused Therapy for Groups: Transdiagnostic Treatment for Turbulent Times

The concept of compassion has a centuries-long history as a pillar of philosophical and religious discourse as a response to human suffering. More recently, Paul Gilbert, the founder of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) has explained compassion evolutionarily as a willingness to enter human suffering and a commitment to alleviating it. In the face of increased (and increasing) suffering in the world, compassion shows promise as both a societal and an individual intervention. In the following article, we discuss the background and theory of CFT, the empirical evidence for CFT delivered in a group therapy format, and present a standardized protocol. We then present an illustrative clinical vignette and discuss the current clinical and research limitations. We call for continued research to expand our understanding of CFT as well as its potential reach, and conclude by recommending CFT as an evidence-based group treatment that is particularly appropriate for the current global climate.