Developing Compassion to Flourish - Personal Practice for the New Year

Developing Compassion to Flourish

Personal Practice Sessions for the New Year with Dr Wendy Wood

Tuesday 13th January 2026

Here at the Compassionate Mind Foundation, we thought that the New Year would be a wonderful opportunity to share some time together online to engage in guided practices and reflections as a way of developing our personal practice to facilitate our flourishing.

The session is for therapists already working with compassion, to support your personal practice. Often, people find that it is difficult to make time for formal practice, but they are more likely to do so when they can link with others.

There are two options you can sign up for. The aim is to provide times that work across different time zones. Both sessions will have the same practices, so you are welcome to sign up to either of the sessions or both if you wish.

The sessions will be recorded for those unable to attend live

We are offering these sessions on a donation basis (suggested donation is £30)

PLEASE NOTE: The sessions are purely about practice rather than training

Option 1 - 9:00 am to 11:00am GMT

Option 2 - 13:00 to 15:00 GMT

Facilitator

Dr Wendy Wood MBACP FHEA has many years of experience as a therapist and clinical supervisor working within the NHS and private practice. She worked as a mental health nurse, working in both hospital and community settings, including elderly care, day hospital rehabilitation settings and drug and alcohol community support.

Wendy moved on to work as an assistant psychologist, developing counselling in primary care. She then moved into an academic role developing a wide range of academic courses for 20 years, including both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in counselling and psychotherapy. As a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, developing, and teaching many programmes including one of the first postgraduate qualifications in Compassion Focused Therapy in the world.

Over the past ten years, Wendy has worked on the development of training for Compassion Focused Therapy. Her contributions to the development and course leadership of the Postgraduate Certificate in CFT, the world's first academic course in CFT. She continues to provide training, therapy, and clinical supervision in CFT and CMT.

Wendy retired from the University of Derby in 2017 to focus on her PhD and other projects, including Compassion in Schools research. In 2021, Wendy completed her PhD, in a qualitative study entitled “The Personal and Professional Experiences of Counsellors and Psychotherapists who Employ the Principles and Practices of Compassion Focused Therapy: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis”.

Wendy now works as Programme Leader & Training Advisor for the Compassionate Mind Foundation, an Associate Lecturer at the University of Derby and is in private practice as a therapist and supervisor. She contributes to research in Compassion Focused Therapy, Compassionate Mind Training and Compassion in Schools.