
Compassionate Leadership Training for health and social care leaders – Monday afternoons
2 June at 15:00 to 17:00 BST
Compassionate leadership is linked with improved learning and innovation, and reduced staff stress, injuries and absenteeism, and even reduced patient mortality.
Six online sessions from Monday 2 June, 9 June, 16 June, 23 June, 30 June & 7 July.
Following this, there are monthly follow-up sessions on the below dates, to review our learning and practice (which all compassionate leadership training graduates are invited to):Thursday 18 September 4.00 – 5.00pm, Wednesday 15 October 4.00 – 5.00pm, Tuesday 18 November 1.00 – 2.00pm, Monday 8 December 4.00 – 5.00pm
Overview
At the heart of compassion is the notion that everyone experiences difficulty, and that we can all play a role in alleviating our own difficulties and those of others. Whether this is compassion for ourselves, the people we lead, colleagues or service users. We won’t always feel like helping and will sometimes be tired or overwhelmed or unable to connect. Although it helps to have positive feelings, we do not have to feel compassion to be compassionate. We can recognise our physical and mental state, resource ourselves as best we can, and respond from our firm compassionate intention, rather than from impulse or intense emotion.
How does this translate into compassion in health and social care organisations? How might we think about compassionate leadership, working with colleagues, service users and their friends and families? Prof Michael West has spent his career answering this question, pointing to research that shows how compassionate leadership is linked with improved learning and innovation, and reduced staff stress, injuries and absenteeism, and even reduced patient mortality. In short, compassion is essential to high quality healthcare.
Dr Robert Marx and Professor Clara Strauss have designed a training programme of six weekly sessions, lasting two hours each.
Who is the course for?
The course is for anyone in a leadership role within health and social care. It will combine experiential practice and reflection, as well as home practice to help cultivate compassion for ourselves and the people we lead.
Facilitators
Ruth Sequeira

Ruth Sequeira is as senior trainer, supervisor and mindfulness teacher for the Sussex Mindfulness Centre. She is also a psychological therapist and the Mindfulness and Compassion Training and Retreat Lead at the Mindfulness Network. Ruth has a history of working in mental health services and until recently worked as a clinical lead in the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Sussex. Ruth has a longstanding interest in mindfulness, meditation and movement, and is passionate about increasing access to mindfulness courses in different populations.
Catherine Cameron

Catherine is a clinical psychologist working within the community-based eating disorders service. She has a particular interest in self-compassion in eating disorders treatments. She co-facilitates the mindful self-compassion course for staff with Robert Marx having trained to facilitate the MSC course in 2014 and before that running MBCT-based Mindfulness for Pain courses in Hove Polyclinic. She is also involved in the mindfulness all day retreats run for those who have attended the 8-week courses within Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Apply and book your place
Please note, we ask all those who book a place on this training programme to fill in an application form that will be sent to the facilitators. If you haven’t already, please head here to fill in the form.
Ticket price:
- £200 per person
For enquiries: spft.smc@nhs.net