[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-281085-105":53,"doc-detail-281085-en":127},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":120,"head_meta":122,"extra_data":124,"updated_unix":126},105,"en","compassionate-letter-writing-therapist-notes","Compassionate Letter Writing - Therapist Notes","","Compassionate letter writing is designed to help clients engage with personal problems through understanding and warmth, integrating cognitive, behavioural, and emotional interventions from a soothing, compassionate mindset. The letters emphasize empathy for distress using validating language, encouraging compassionate attention, thinking, and behaviour focused on the problem at hand. Clients learn to develop a kinder relationship with themselves by writing from an ideal compassionate perspective, then evaluating emotional shifts, believability, and helpfulness over time, often through in-session or between-session practice and warm, genuine reading.",{"@graph":63,"@context":119},[64,80,102],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":41,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/letters/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/compassionate-letter-writing-therapist-notes/281085/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/compassionate-letter-writing-therapist-notes/281085.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Eden","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-09-16",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":101},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":103,"mainEntity":104},"FAQPage",[105,111,115],{"name":106,"@type":107,"acceptedAnswer":108},"What is the main goal of compassionate letter writing?","Question",{"text":109,"@type":110},"To help clients approach their problems with understanding and warmth, reducing cold or aggressive responding and supporting emotional, cognitive, and behavioural change.","Answer",{"name":112,"@type":107,"acceptedAnswer":113},"What should the letter language include?",{"text":114,"@type":110},"It should express clear empathy for distress using validating phrases (for example, acknowledging that their feelings make sense given their experiences) rather than self-criticism or detached observation.",{"name":116,"@type":107,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How can clients complete and review the letters?",{"text":118,"@type":110},"Clients may write during session or leave it for a few minutes to write between sessions, then read it back to the therapist. The therapist can also read the letters slowly and warmly, inviting the client to notice understanding and warmth.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":121,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":123,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":125,"site_id":56},281085,1790024148,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":128},{"doc_id":125,"user_id":129,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":130,"doc_module":9,"category_id":40,"category_name":41,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":131,"file_id":132,"file_url":133,"file_type":134,"file_size":135,"view_count":101,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":136,"language":137,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":138,"faqs":139,"seo_title":140,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":141,"read_time":76},1374391974468,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Compassionate Letter Writing  \nTherapist Notes  \nThe idea behind compassionate mind letter writing is to help people engage with their problems with a focus on understanding and warmth. We want to try to bring this emotional system into helping with the problem. It is from a position of compassionate understanding/feeling that you can then integrate the various cognitive, behavioural and emotional interventions you have decided to use. Focusing on the soothing system helps to reduce the likelihood that alternative thoughts and behaviours are done in a cold or aggressive manner. Also, you are teaching your clients to begin to develop anew type of relationship with themselves. Explain the idea of compassionate letter writing and explore their thoughts about it, so that it is a collaborative exercise and experiment.  \nYou can then use various ideas to try to help people put themselves in a compassionate frame of mind. For example, if you have worked on the compassionate ideal image, and they have various images of that, they can take a few slow breaths, bring the image to mind and then write the letter as from that point of view – e.g. , imagine this image talking to them, which they write down. Help the client focus on helpful sensory aspects. Alternatively, the client may imagine their ideal compassionate self – the kind of caring person they would like to be. This is the focus that we will use in the client handout below.  \nThe content of the letter should show clear empathy for distress with phrases such as “it is understandable you feel x because ....” In other words, you are helping people to write about and be clear about the nature of their distress rather than just self critical or coldly observant.  \nLook to see if they can focus on compassionate attention, compassionate thinking and compassionate behaviour. This is how the person brings their  \nPage 1  \n© Paul Gilbert 2007  \nwork on generating alternative thoughts, reflecting, and really focusing on those behaviours that are likely to be helpful to them. Compassionate behaviours are not just things such as doing nice things for oneself but need to be focused on the problem at hand. Commonly, this may be focused on help seeking behaviour learning to be compassionately assertive, or working with fears and/or aversive emotions.  \nYou can write letters in session with them, or you can suggest that you leave the client for five minutes or so and let then write one, or it can be between sessions. When they bring the letter back they can read it to you, trying to put as much warmth in their voice as possible. Also it can be helpful if you read their letters back to them, again speaking slowly and with as much warmth inflection in your voice as you can manage – but this needs to be genuine and not ‘sickly or false.’ Explore their feelings and the degree to which their alternative thoughts in the letter are believable, acceptable and helpful. It is the emotional shift that is key.  \nKeep to the spirit of the exercise, rather than getting caught up in technique. Constantly collaborate with your client, which will mean at times going back to the three circles, so that there is clarity as to what together you are trying to achieve. Always invite your client to think how they could improve on the procedures, so that they become their own best guides and can teach you new ideas!  \nBelow is a client hand out, which offers some guides for letter writing. When you give this to your client check out that they understand the point and they would find it helpful. Remind them that this is, in part, an experiment and not about doing things, right or wrong. Also note that it may take some practice to get the hang of it but that, of course, is the point. If people are struggling with the fear of being compassionate then acknowledge that compassionately, really spend time exploring that fear and the beliefs/trauma experiences associated with it. Go back to the three circles and ‘brain storm’ h","cbCaisjvF6YbcZY7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisjvF6YbcZY7","pdf",154582,9,"English","# Compassionate letter writing - core idea\n## Purpose and collaborative exercise\n## Creating the compassionate frame of mind\n## Empathy-focused language and emotional clarity\n## Practice format: in-session, between sessions, and reading back\n## Evaluating believability and emotional shift\n# Implementation guidance - therapist approach","[{\"question\":\"What is the main goal of compassionate letter writing?\",\"answer\":\"To help clients approach their problems with understanding and warmth, reducing cold or aggressive responding and supporting emotional, cognitive, and behavioural change.\"},{\"question\":\"What should the letter language include?\",\"answer\":\"It should express clear empathy for distress using validating phrases (for example, acknowledging that their feelings make sense given their experiences) rather than self-criticism or detached observation.\"},{\"question\":\"How can clients complete and review the letters?\",\"answer\":\"Clients may write during session or leave it for a few minutes to write between sessions, then read it back to the therapist. The therapist can also read the letters slowly and warmly, inviting the client to notice understanding and warmth.\"}]","Compassionate Letter Writing - Therapist Notes | PDF",1789564038]