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Mindfulness meditation is a highly effective, evidence-based way to improve mental health.

In addition to mindfulness, we need self-compassion, which can be both soothing and deeply healing.

Internal family systems incorporates self-compassion into its approach to healing wounded parts of the self.

As a long-time meditator, I have been practising almost every day for more than 15 years—around 5,500 days of sitting quietly every morning. And for most of those mornings, I have practised mindfulness meditation—usually mindfulness of breath, the core practice in both Buddhist and secular mindfulness approaches to calming and focusing the mind. I am a passionate advocate of daily meditation practice, both for my own mental health and that of my clients.

But if you are suffering from some kind of distress, whether that’s chronic stress, debilitating anxiety, loneliness, heartbreak, or depression, mindfulness practice alone may not be enough. In my consulting room, I have met many people who had a long-term, dedicated meditation practice but were still struggling with overwhelming anxiety or crippling bouts of depression. Some of these people were Buddhists, which adds many layers of richness and depth to enhancing psychological well-being. But they were still struggling enough that they needed my help.

Trauma-Informed Approaches

As a psychotherapist specialising in complex trauma, I integrate several evidence-based, trauma-informed models into my approach. These include schema therapy,1 trauma-informed stabilisation treatment,2 compassion-focused therapy,3 and internal family systems (IFS),4 a transdiagnostic treatment approach that was developed by Richard Schwartz in the 1980s. If my integrative approach were a rich, nourishing soup, IFS would........

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