Compassion Focused Therapy grew out of an attempt to understand why some people find it so hard to be kind to themselves, and what has to change for that to shift. The 2026 conference takes the next step and looks at application: how compassion-focused ideas are being delivered in services, tested in trials, and adapted for populations and settings that the original models did not have in view.

The programme combines keynote lectures with symposia, skills-based workshops, experiential sessions and poster presentations. A day of pre-conference workshops opens the meeting on 12 October, and the social programme includes a conference dinner and an open mic evening.