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  • About Kaitlin
  • Somatic Workbook [Pre-Order]
  • Podcast & Blog
  • Learn with Kaitlin
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  • FREE STRESS RELIEF TRAINING

Cultivating The Strength For Compassion

with Professor Paul Gilbert
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Welcome to the seventh episode of Season Five of Wisdom for Wellbeing Podcast. On this episode I interview Professor Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE and Professor of Clinical Psychology.

Want to keep in touch? Head to @drkaitlin on Instagram or @wisdomforwellbeingpod on Facebook to connect.

What is covered in this episode:

>>An introduction to Professor Paul Gilbert and how he came to develop CFT

>>Consideration of compassion as an active, courageous and wise practice

>>What does it mean that we have a ‘tricky brain’?

>>Why learning to fail is important

Tune in next week to hear about the 3 flows of compassion (receiving for others, for yourself), about the need for compassion to have a political focus, and to learn a practices to cultivate compassion in mind and body

You’ll find a copy of the Episode Transcript below.

Professor Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby and honorary visiting Prof at the University of Queensland. Until his retirement from the NHS in 2016 he was Consultant Clinical Psychologist for over 40 years. He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology with a special focus on mood, shame and self-criticism in various mental health difficulties for which Compassion Focused Therapy was developed. He was made a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1993, president of the BABCP 2002-2004, and was a member of the first British Governments’ NICE guidelines for depression. He has written/edited 23 books and over 300 papers and book chapters. In 2006 he established the Compassionate Mind Foundation as an international charity with the mission statement: To promote wellbeing through the scientific understanding and application of compassion (www.compassionatemind.co.uk). There are now a number of sister foundations in other countries. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in March 2011 for services to mental health. He established and is the Director of the Centre for Compassion Research and Training at Derby University UK. His latest book is a major edited book with Prof G Simos (2022) Compassion: Clinical practice and Applications (Routledge).

Transcript

[Will appear here when completed.]

Listen to previous Podcasts

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Professor Holger Cramer in grey blazer with glasses stands smiling with arms crossed
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Season 5: Episode 18

Valued Living in the Holiday Rush

with Kaitlin Harkess, PhD
1 2 3

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2025 had a word for me: integration ✨ Not doing m 2025 had a word for me: integration ✨

Not doing more (though, it was BIG!)
Bringing things together.

This year held so much.
Publishing The Somatic Workbook with @pesipublishing 📕 
Meaningful podcast and article conversations.
Leading multiple workshops.
Moving house.
Watching the little ones start kindergarten.

Big professional milestones alongside amazing personal shifts and big birthdays too.

Somewhere along the way, the theme became clear.
Integration of mind and body.
Learning and living.
Growth with steadiness.

I even made a mug at one workshop with @made_and_nurtured_art to mark it.

As I look ahead, integration is coming with me into the next season.

If you are starting your year craving more regulation and reflection, The Somatic Workbook was designed for exactly that. Practical exercises, journaling, and nervous system support that you can actually use. (Link with bonuses in bio 🔗)

A beautiful way to close one year and consciously shape the next.
Here’s to a year and a life well lived.

💖Until soon, Kaitlin xx
The best Christmas present isn’t under the tree. A The best Christmas present isn’t under the tree.
And if this season feels both joyful and heavy, you’re not alone.

From an evidence-based lifestyle medicine and psychology perspective, the most protective thing you can offer yourself right now is nervous system support.

A few gentle ways to move through the holidays:

🎄 Eat to steady your body, not to be “good.” Regular meals with protein, fibre, and fats support mood, energy, and emotional regulation.
🎄 Consider non-alcoholic swaps some of the time. Better sleep equals more emotional bandwidth the next day.
🎄 Move in small, human ways. Walks, stretching, or even doing the dishes help the body release stress.
🎄 Choose presence over perfection. Relationships matter more than how things look.
🎄 Hold joy and grief. You can laugh and still miss someone. Both belong.
🎄 Practise kindness and altruism. Many people are carrying invisible losses. Donating, checking in, or helping out supports others and the research shows it supports our wellbeing too.

This year has been full, meaningful, and deeply human. I’m grateful for the conversations, the learning, and the chance to support nervous system compassion and I look forward to continuing that work in the year ahead.

If you’re moving through this season imperfectly, gently, or with mixed emotions, you’re doing it right.
PSA: We don’t regulate our nervous systems with in PSA: We don’t regulate our nervous systems with insight alone.
And we don’t heal through body-based tools without psychological skills.

It’s the both/and that matters.

The things in this carousel aren’t “luxuries” or once-a-year treats. They’re the quiet, repeatable supports that make daily life feel more workable. Tools that help the body feel safe and give the mind something steady to lean on.

I use every single thing on this list. Not because I need more stuff, but because they genuinely make my life better. When family ask what I want, I often say gift certificates (massage, sauna, bodywork), because being cared for through the body is deeply regulating and long-lasting.

And alongside that? Psychological strategies. Practising skills that help you meet anxiety, stress, and overwhelm with less self-blame and more choice. Hence, I wrote The Somatic Workbook for Nervous System Regulation and Anxiety Management. Learning how your nervous system works. 

This post isn’t really about Christmas…
It’s about how we support ourselves across an entire year.

Save this for when you need ideas that actually soothe your system, and share it with someone who could use a little more nervous system support heading into 2026 🤍

PS can you find the bonus C on the front page… let’s say it’s there for a little extra recommended *calm* 😉

@shaktimats 
@altinadrinks 
@drink.mellows 
@kobobooks 
@loopearplugs 
@locolovechocolate 
@loopearplugs
This season, the real flex is slowing down enough This season, the real flex is slowing down enough to feel your own body again.✨

I’ve been playing with a few new tools to navigate my nervous system in the rush toward year’s end (hello CrossFit-style class… and yes, that Lagree class I shared last week!). And in the evenings, this looks like giving my legs some much-needed TLC with the @shaktimats Acupressure Leg Wraps (magic 💖).

These wraps hug your calf and upper leg with such clever design, they avoiding the shin, adjustable compression straps, and honestly… the moment you put them on, you have to sit down. Which, for so many of us during the holidays, is half the medicine.

A built-in pause.
A forced exhale.
A moment to be with yourself (and… perhaps… your book or journal!)

I’ve been settling in and just let the acupressure do its thing while reading, relaxing and soaking up the slow of some grounding breaths and horizontal time in front of the tree. A small ritual of care in a month where energy pours outward in every direction… caregiving, planning, wrapping, doing.

And while my focus has been on recovery and balancing movement and stress, a colleague shared that she’s been using these wraps to help her navigate some of the muscular tension and sensory discomfort she experiences with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). It really highlighted how adaptable these kinds of tools can be, whether it’s supporting tired legs, providing gentle pressure, encouraging grounding, or simply creating a moment of stillness we wouldn’t otherwise take.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know I’m all about practices and tools that create space for the body to settle. Not hacks. But intentional little invitations back to ourselves, especially in seasons where we need it most.

So if you’re in the thick of the holiday busyness, consider this your reminder: you’re allowed to stop. You’re allowed to care for the body that carries so much. And you’re allowed to invest in the support that helps you move into the new year nourished, not depleted. 

Have you tried Shakti? Thoughts👇
This morning I tried something new… and wow, what This morning I tried something new… and wow, what a beautiful way to start a Sunday.

I went to a Lagree class at @corebrew_lagree here on Kaurna Land in the Adelaide CBD, and the moment I stepped inside I could feel my whole system exhale. The studio was open and bright, sunlight streaming in, that soft morning glow filling the space.

There’s something special about moving your body in a way it’s not used to - waking up deep stabilisers, slowing things down enough to truly feel the effort, the tremble, the strength building from the inside out. Lagree is such an interesting blend of slow, mindful resistance and controlled challenge… which, in many ways, is exactly what somatic work invites too. Not pushing through. Not dominating the body. But meeting sensation with awareness, curiosity, and breath.

Trying something new can be a little nerve-wracking… that flutter of activation we all feel stepping into the unfamiliar. Yet, it can also be such a gift! Today it reminded me how aliveness often sits just on the other side of “I’m not sure about this.”

And the best part? The community feel. People smiling, chatting, supporting each other. I even ran into someone I studied with many years ago, which made the world feel suddenly smaller in such a connecting way. I finished the class to have my coffee ready, perfection.

Tell me, have you tried Lagree? If not, lean into your curiosity ✨
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Dr. Kaitlin pays her respects to the Kaurna peoples as the Traditional Owner’s of the land on which she works and lives. Dr Kaitlin acknowledges that the Kaurna people have social, spiritual and historical connections to this land and their connections are as strong today as they have always been. She would like to extend this acknowledgment out to the Traditional Owners of the land on which you are based, and to acknowledge the Ktunaxa and Kinbasket Peoples of what is now called Canada, as she was born and gratefully raised on their traditional unceded territory.

Mandala Artwork by Scarlet Barnett
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