Fauzia Khan - One on One with Clinical Psychologist Dr Chris Irons

Can you tell me a bit about your journey into psychology and what led you to pursue this as a career path?

I was raised in a family where people around me were involved in helping others. Both my parents were teachers, and various aunts and uncles worked in social services and the fire service. After moving to the UK from Jamaica after fighting in the second world war, my grandfather dedicated himself to fighting for racial justice and helped to set up organisations to support immigrants from the Caribbean in the years after The Windrush.  So, I always knew that I wanted to do something similar, to help people.

But it was at A-Level when I first learned about psychology and found it so interesting, then I took a four-year undergraduate course and at that point I knew that psychology was for me. In particular, my degree included one year in the workplace, and through serendipity, this ended up being with Professor Paul Gilbert. As they say, the rest is history! Paul – and the placement more generally - inspired me to become a clinical psychologist, and this set me on the path to Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).

What sparked your interest in Compassion Focused Therapy approaches?

Whilst working with Paul Gilbert during my undergraduate degree, I was lucky to get involved with lots of research on some of the ideas that sit underneath CFT, such as attachment theory, shame and self-criticism. During my PhD and my clinical training, I was fortunate to also have Paul as my supervisor, which was great as I saw how many of the theories we had gathered data and published results on, could directly be worked with in therapy using CFT.

Ultimately, as a biopsychosocial approach which integrates many different sciences together, CFT really appealed as it managed to bring together much of what I'd learned studying psychology with a humanistic, caring therapeutic relationship.

You are co-director of Balanced Minds - how did this come about?

I was working in a management position within a busy NHS service, and whilst I enjoyed it, my passion was for CFT. I ended up setting up Balanced Minds with a friend (Charlie Heriot-Maitland) and my wife (Korina Ioannou) as we had a shared vision of wanting to increase people's opportunity – whether clients, the general public or clinicians – to experience or learn about CFT. We started off as just the three of us, and now there are 30 of us working for Balanced Minds, spreading the compassion message! 

You've written a number of books relating to Compassion Focused Therapy; tell me about these.

I never set out in my career to be an author, but as I started teaching and training clinicians in CFT, I was encouraged by people that I might be quite good at it. Although I was hesitant at first, I spent some time speaking to my threat system (and its concerns that the book wouldn't be very good) and tuning in to why I wanted to do this – to help people access more information about CFT.

To date, I've written/co-written five books, some which are CFT self-help guides for the general public, and one which was specifically for therapists and clinicians to learn about CFT through applying it to themselves. I've loved writing them, although it does take a huge amount of work, so I'm currently enjoying taking a break from doing anything further (for the time being at least!). 

You also created 'The Self-Compassion' app; tell me about this.

As part of my wish to increase access to the ideas and practices of CFT, and directly out of the success of one of my books (The Compassionate Mind Workbook), we were approached by a company who were interested in taking self-help books, and translating them in to app form so as to increase the accessibility of psychological ideas for the general public. Upon hearing their vision we jumped at the chance to work with them. It was great being involved in developing and app, and so far we've had fantastic feedback about it! 

Can you share a piece of work or research that has really changed or shaped your practice?

My first experience of clinical psychology was on my undergraduate degree whilst doing a year long work placement with Paul Gilbert. This has meant that the process of research – from generating ideas and methods, to collecting and analysing data, and finally publishing and disseminating results – has been central to my identity as a clinical psychologist. Although I've never been employed by a university, I've continued to conduct and publish research throughout my career, and hope to do so for many years to come.

If I had to pick one bit of research that shaped me, I guess it would be my first publication in 2003. Whilst the topic of this (how early life experiences are linked to shame and depression) was important and interesting, getting a piece of research published that I'd been involved in was great in growing my confidence as a fledging Assistant Psychologist, whilst also inspiring me about wanting to be both a clinician and researcher. 

What advice would you give to our readers about practising self-compassion?

Self-compassion is a bit like a muscle – through exercising it, we can not only strengthen it, but learn how to put it to use in our life in a helpful way. But just like with exercise, it's useful to find the right way for you to practice self-compassion. Sometimes this might be through finding a therapist who can guide you on how to become more self-compassionate. Other times it can be through guided help, like a self-help book or listening to some audio guides. Other people find our Self-Compassion App helpful.

I always think it's worth trying out a few different methods and discovering what works best for you. Regardless of this, one thing that it's important to hold on to is why it's useful to practise. Apart from the now extensive research on the power of self-compassion to bring positive changes to your life, I think it's helpful to consider the why it's important to cultivate self-compassion.

One way to reflect on this is by thinking about relationships. If you add up every hour that you're in a relationship with someone else (your friends, family and loved ones) it comes nowhere near to the amount of time you'll spend in relationship with yourself through life.

But here's the thing; what type of relationship do you have with yourself? Do you treat yourself with the same kindness, care and empathy as you do your best friend? If not, then this is why self-compassion might be important to learn about and practice. 

Fauzia Khan is an Assistant Psychologist currently working within the NHS, whilst completing her Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.

On Twitter: @itsFauziaKhan & @DrChrisIrons