Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby and, until his retirement from the NHS in 2016, was Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Derbyshire Health Care Foundation Trust. He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology for over 40 years with a special focus on the roles of 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. In 2003 Paul was president of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy. 2002-2004 he was a member of the first British Governments’ NICE guidelines for depression. He has written/edited 21 books and over 200 papers. 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" (http://www.compassionatemind.co.uk).

On leaving the health service in 2016 he established the Centre for Compassion Research, of at the University of Derby and has been awarded honorary professorships at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, the University of Coimbra in Portuhal, and the University of Queensland in Australia. He has written and edited many books on psychology, therapy, and compassion. His latest book is Living Like Crazy.

He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in March 2011 for services to mental health.