Compassion Focused Wellbeing (CFW) 8 Week Programme

Compassion Focused Wellbeing 8 Week Programme

The Compassion Focused Wellbeing (CFW) Programme was developed by Nick Cooke and Madeleine Agnew as a way to support mindfulness participants and teachers in developing a kinder, more compassionate attitude toward themselves.

CFW builds upon the foundations of mindfulness to explore how compassion can be cultivated — both for ourselves and for others — as a pathway to deeper wellbeing, emotional resilience, and inner peace.

The Compassion-Focused Wellbeing (CFW) programme was developed as a natural next step for participants who have completed the Mindfulness Now programme. After learning how to recognise thoughts, habits, and patterns—and building resilience through mindfulness—participants are often ready to explore how to respond more skilfully to what they discover.

CFW offers this progression. It takes the foundations of awareness and gently guides participants into practical, compassion-based skills that help them work with whatever has arisen during their mindfulness journey. While mindfulness teaches us to notice, compassion teaches us how to respond.

This programme is more action-oriented, supporting participants as they learn to intentionally shift into a calmer, more soothing and nurturing state—one that enables them to care for themselves more effectively and, in turn, to support others around them.

Join the Compassion Focused Wellbeing 8 Week Programme

If you’d like to develop a kinder, more compassionate relationship with yourself and others, the CFW 8 Week Programme offers a practical, research-informed, and heart-centred approach.

Whether you’re a mindfulness practitioner, a wellbeing professional, or simply someone seeking greater peace and balance, CFW provides the tools and guidance to help you flourish — both personally and professionally.

CFW 8 WEEK PROGRAMME 2026:

14th Oct - 9th December 2026 / Retreat 6th December 2026 -Evenings 6.30pm - 8pm

What is Compassion Focused Wellbeing CFW?

Compassion Focused Wellbeing (CFW) is an approach that emphasises applying compassion for yourself, your loved ones, strangers, and the wider world in the pursuit of a healthy and happy life.

It combines the concept of wellbeing with the practice of compassion, encouraging participants to create a nurturing inner environment that supports personal growth, mental health, and emotional balance.

When we develop compassion as a mindset and daily practice, we strengthen our capacity to cope with life’s challenges and foster a greater sense of connection and understanding — both inwardly and outwardly.

Research shows that compassion-based living has significant benefits for mental, emotional, and physical health (Gilbert, 2010; Neff, 2003; Pace et al., 2009; Seppälä et al., 2017).

Developed with Mindfulness in Mind

The CFW 8 week programme offers an integrative approach

The CFW Programme draws from a rich blend of evidence-based and experiential methods. Whilst remaining an original programme it incorporates key learning from:

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)
The Mindfulness Now Programme

This integrative framework offers participants a holistic and accessible way to explore compassion — blending psychology, mindfulness, and reflective practice into a cohesive wellbeing journey.

The Attitudinal Framework – The 10 Attitudes of Compassion

At the heart of CFW lies a unique attitudinal framework: The 10 Attitudes of Compassion.
Developed by Madeleine Agnew and Nick Cooke, these attitudes help clarify the deeper principles of compassion and form the foundations of all CFW teaching.

The attitudes — such as kindness, courage, acceptance, and wisdom — encourage participants to embody compassion in thought, word, and action. They also complement and enrich every element of the CFW programme, supporting ongoing personal growth and mindful awareness.

Flexible and Accessible

The CFW Programme is designed to be both structured and adaptable, allowing it to meet the needs of a wide range of individuals and settings.

It can be delivered as:

An 8-week structured programme for groups
A 1:1 personalised course
A drop-in style support group offering informal, ongoing guidance
Compassion based retreats

This flexibility makes it suitable for individuals at all stages of their mindfulness or wellbeing journey

The UK College of Mindfulness Meditation: the UK’s leading provider of vocational teacher training. Training centres across the UK and online.

Nick Cooke - Course Creator

The founder of the UK College, Nick Cooke, based the original ‘Mindfulness Now’ training programme around his own considerable experience of using mindfulness to help him with recovery and rehabilitation following two serious illnesses.

Join the Compassion Focused Wellbeing 8 Week Programme

If you’d like to develop a kinder, more compassionate relationship with yourself and others, the CFW 8 Week Programme offers a practical, research-informed, and heart-centred approach.

For further information or to book on one of our courses please contact the UK College on 0121 444 1110 or email us.

Attending a Compassion Focused Wellbeing CFW 8 Week Programme

What to Expect Each Week

Week 1 – Welcoming Compassion
Participants are introduced to the foundations of compassion, exploring what it is and what can get in the way of it. Through simple practices like compassionate breathing and journalling, they begin cultivating a kinder inner attitude. The focus is on gently opening to self-compassion in everyday life.

Week 2 – Linking Mindfulness and Compassion
This week connects mindfulness skills with compassion, helping participants move out of autopilot and into present-moment awareness with kindness. Practices such as mindful eating, walking meditation, and the breathing space deepen this integration. Participants begin to see how awareness and compassion work together.

Week 3 – Compassionate Body
Attention shifts to the body, using practices like the compassionate body scan and gentle movement to build a felt sense of safety and care. Participants explore supportive touch and develop an inner “safe place.” This week strengthens the connection between body awareness and emotional wellbeing.

Week 4 – Greeting Our Challenges
Participants learn to recognise common thinking patterns and emotional habits that can create difficulty. Compassion is introduced as a way of responding to challenges, supported by practices like loving acceptance and understanding emotional regulation systems. The focus is on meeting difficulties with warmth rather than resistance.

Week 5 – Compassionate Self
This week deepens the exploration of the “compassionate self” and how to relate to inner experiences more kindly. Participants work with the inner critic and begin cultivating a compassionate inner voice. Participants learn practices that support responding to difficult thoughts and emotions with care.

Week 6 – Responding to a Friend
Compassion is extended outward, exploring how we relate to others and how we offer support. Participants reflect on how they respond to a friend and learn to balance giving compassion to others with receiving it themselves. The emphasis is on connection, empathy, and healthy self-care.

Week 7 – Compassionate Ideal
Participants begin to embody compassion more fully by developing their own compassionate ideal. Through reflective practices like letter writing and visualisation, they strengthen their ability to respond to themselves with wisdom and kindness. This week supports integrating compassion into one’s identity and daily life.

Week 8 – The Power of Compassion
The final week brings everything together, highlighting how compassion can be sustained beyond the programme. Participants reflect on their learning, explore gratitude and loving-kindness practices, and consider how to apply compassion in real-world settings. The programme closes with a sense of integration, growth, and ongoing possibility.

Children and Young People

As part of our approach, CFW also offers a 4-week programme for children and young people which is adapted version of the main the programme.

This course introduces compassion-based practices in an age-appropriate and engaging way, supporting emotional literacy, resilience, and kindness from an early age.

CFW Retreats

A key element of the 8-week programme is the opportunity to deepen practice through retreat.
We typically offer a CFW Retreat between weeks 6 and 7, providing space for reflection, integration, and connection with others on the same journey.

Retreat experiences often include guided meditations, mindful movement, reflective journaling, and group dialogue — all within a supportive and nurturing environment.

Trauma-Informed Teaching

The CFW approach is built upon trauma-informed principles, recognising that compassion must always be offered safely and sensitively.
CFW incorporates the NIA Trauma Language Model, ensuring that all teaching and facilitation is grounded in psychological safety, inclusion, and respect for participants’ lived experiences.

This trauma-sensitive approach allows participants to engage at their own pace and fosters trust, empowerment, and self-compassion.

Neurodiversity-Aware Teaching

The CFW programme is designed with a neurodiversity-aware teaching style, offering flexible, accessible practices that honour different ways of processing information and experiencing the world.

Sessions are structured with multiple modes of learning to support participants with varied attention, sensory, or communication needs.

We emphasise choice, autonomy, and gentle pacing so that individuals can engage with the material in ways that feel safe, manageable, and personally meaningful.

By creating an inclusive environment that values cognitive differences, the programme helps every participant build compassion skills in a way that works for their unique neurotype.

Core Elements of the CFW Approach

Self-Compassion – Learning to relate to yourself with kindness and understanding, often by cultivating an inner “compassionate voice.”

Compassion for Others and the World Around Us – Extending empathy and care outward, fostering connection and shared humanity.

Mindfulness – Developing awareness of the present moment to respond with care rather than react from habit (Teasdale et al., 2002; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Hölzel et al., 2011).

Emotional Regulation – Understanding and balancing the three emotional systems — Threat, Drive, and Soothe — to promote calm, balance, and resilience (Klimecki et al., 2013).

Why Compassion Matters

Compassion is recognised across traditions and modern science as a vital human strength. Leaders such as the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis have spoken of compassion as essential to human flourishing — and psychological research confirms its transformative impact.

Practising compassion enhances wellbeing, strengthens relationships, reduces stress and anxiety, and supports physical health. Like ripples in water, each act of compassion extends outward — changing not only ourselves, but the world around us.

Evidence and Inspiration

The CFW Programme draws inspiration and evidence from leading thinkers and researchers in mindfulness and compassion science, including:

Paul Gilbert (2010) – Founder of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
Kristin Neff (2003) – Co-creator of the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) programme
Tania Singer & Olga Klimecki (2013) – Research into compassion and emotional regulation
Teasdale, Segal & Williams (2002) – Founders of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Emma Seppälä (2017) – Research on compassion, connection, and wellbeing