“People can spend their lives with an emotional bully in their head, constantly undermining them, constantly putting them down, constantly judging themselves, and then they wonder why they’re depressed!”
 
Paul Gilbert is a Professor of Clinical Psychology with over 40 years’ experience.  He has devoted much of his career to developing Compassion Focussed Therapy. “Compassion is a sensitivity to the suffering of self and others with a commitment to relieve and prevent suffering returning.” 

With humour and great wisdom, Paul explains:

• Why it’s so common for people to feel a lack of self-compassion and so much guilt, shame, and self-criticism.
• How to move from having an “emotional bully” in our head to having a friend in there.
• How to look after yourself, so that your relationship with yourself is one of compassion, courage, and wisdom to guide you through whatever darkness is ahead.
• The role of social media and social comparison in our sense of self.
• Why it’s so important that we ‘talk nicely’ to ourselves.
• A simple practice to develop a deeper understanding of compassion for ourselves and others.
• And much more.

“A lot of the criticism we have for ourselves is because we’re frightened. We’re frightened of being rejected.  We’re frightened of being seen as no good. We’re frightened of being marginalised. We’re frightened.”

You can connect with Paul
His website is www.compassionatemind.co.uk
His latest book, ‘Living Like Crazy’ is widely available.

Also mentioned in this podcast:
‘Civilised to Death’, book by Chris Ryan
How to Train your Vagus – Stephen Porges 

Connect with Maria
On Twitter @Mariabrosnan
On LinkedIn Maria Brosnan
On Instagram @pursuitwellbeing
Find out more about our 5-step Wellbeing Action Plan for teachers online course.
And Maria’s book, The Pursuit of Sleep for teachers, is available now.