Compassion: The Power to Transform
Compassion: The Power to Transform is the theme of our twelth annual conference, which takes place in Brighton on 15 May 2026.
The Sussex Mindfulness Centre’s conference will explore compassion and it’s ability to create change from the personal to the global.
We’ll consider how compassion can help to transform: our own difficult experiences; tricky relationships (with family, friends and colleagues); challenging workplaces (especially in healthcare) and crises in wider society and globally (such as conflict, political/social divides, climate change).
The conference will take place on 15 May 2026, at the Friend’s Meeting House in Brighton.
Distinguished speakers
Our distinguished keynote speakers include Professor Paul Gilbert, Alison Evans and Pamela Duckerin.
Professor Paul Gilbert
The title of Paul’s talk is: The Nature and Process of Compassion: From the Personal to the Global
Professor Paul Gilbert, the founder of Compassion-Focused Therapy, will be our lead speaker at our next conference. Paul developed the psychological approach that integrates principles from evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive-behavioral therapy to help people develop self-compassion and reduce shame and self-criticism. He will speak to our conference theme which focuses on compassion and how it can help to transform lives and wider societies.
Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby and honorary visiting Prof at the University of Queensland. Until his retirement from the NHS in 2016 he was Consultant Clinical Psychologist for over 40 years. He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology with a special focus on mood, shame and self-criticism in various mental health difficulties for which Compassion Focused Therapy was developed. 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.
Paul was awarded an OBE for services to mental health, and established and is the Director of the Centre for Compassion Research and Training at Derby University UK.
Alison Evans and Pamela Duckerin
Alison Evans and Pamela Duckerin are co-authors of the newly published book on mindfulness supervision Mindfulness-Based Supervision and Mentoring: Using an embodied dialogue to support learning and reflection. They have been facilitating mindfulness-based supervision training together since 2019 through the Mindfulness Network.
Alison has led the development of mindfulness-based supervision for over 12 years, within the Mindfulness Network and other organisations. Supervision has been a core part of her work, encompassing supervising, training others to supervise, reflecting, researching, and writing about it.
Pamela is part of the supervision team within the Mindfulness Network and offers supervision to mindfulness practitioners worldwide. She has worked in the field of mental health for 41 years and alongside direct clinical work, clinical supervision has been a significant part of her work.
Conference workshops
Check back to find out what topics they will cover and what workshops we’ll be offering.
Tickets on sale
There are a few full-price tickets left.
The earlybird tickets for everybody, and reduced-price tickets for staff and contracted teachers sold very quickly. We’re sorry if you missed out on these.
If you are unemployed or on a low income you can request a concessionary ticket by emailing spft.smc@nhs.net. Please note we have a limited number of concessionary tickets.