By Arash Emamzadeh — 2019
Psychology of compassion is discussed (part 2)
Read on www.psychologytoday.com
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Compassion gets a lot of attention in positive psychology, and for good reason – it’s a major concern of many religious and philosophical leaders, including the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis.
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Attention is like a spotlight—whatever it shines on becomes brighter in the mind. This knowledge can help us build compassion, says Paul Gilbert.
At a weekend workshop I led, one of the participants, Marian, shared her story about the shame and guilt that had tortured her.
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According to the dictionary, to forgive is to stop feeling angry or resentful toward yourself or others for some perceived offense, flaw, or mistake. Keeping that definition in mind, forgiveness becomes a form of compassion.
It’s a spiritual truism that trading places with the less fortunate, psychologically if not literally, can be a powerful motive for doing unto others as you’d have them do unto you.
Call it love, kindness, compassion for all beings—it’s the real elixir, the only one that truly transforms life for ourselves and others.
How do shame and compassion relate to one another?
Grappling with your thoughts will leave you even more entangled in worry. Use metacognitive strategies to break free.
More and more, we live in bubbles. Most of us are surrounded by people who look like us, vote like us, earn like us, spend money like us, have educations like us and worship like us. The result is an empathy deficit, and it’s at the root of many of our biggest problems.
Whether you’re seeking help for a diagnosed mental health condition or just looking for some extra support, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)—which is based on the idea that our thoughts shape our reality and behavior—might be exactly what’s needed.