Compassion is commonly defined as sensitivity to suffering in oneself and others, with a commitment to try to alleviate and prevent it. Compassion focused therapy (CFT), developed in the 1990s by Paul Gilbert, is a hybrid of various therapeutic approaches rooted in biopsychosocial and evolutionary functional analytic approaches, Western psychotherapeutic interventions, and practices from the contemplative traditions. This entry details the development of CFT, discusses the intervention aspects unique to CFT, and describes several exercises used in compassionate mind training.