Compassion Informed Approach is the lens through which we hear another person’s story in human-to-human connection without deferring to models of mending that obscure the person, the context of their distress and our ability to offer mutuality. The approach acknowledges the co-opting of meaningful trauma-informed theory and approaches by illness and diagnostic paradigms. 

Rather than identifying or diagnosing deficiencies within the person in distress, the Compassion Informed Approach asks the person providing support to focus their attention on their own responsibility to hold compassion and love for their fellow human and offer nothing more than mutuality in human-to-human relationship.  

This approach has been developed by Matt Ball, Rory Ritchie, Bec Wheatley, and Berny Maywald (Ball, 2021).

Resources

• Compassion Informed Approach Slide