Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT): Introducing a Process-based System of Psychotherapy to Help Patients with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) integrates techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy with concepts from psychology and neuroscience. The main objective of CFT is to use compassionate mind training to help individuals develop and maintain the experiences of inner warmth and stability, through the cultivation of compassion (including self-compassion). This chapter will describe in detail self-compassion as a technique to help ease distress, anxiety, or depressive feelings, as well as enhance resilience and establish objective health-related expectations and goals for patients with serious chronic diseases, such as cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).