Joanne, 34, came to therapy feeling overwhelmed with stress and anxiety.  She was working really hard, but still juggling a young family.  In addition her mother was also quite elderly and Joanne would do her best to take care of her.  She had a demanding job and an equally demanding boss.  She felt she had no time for herself and as a result, began to comfort eat and felt too exhausted to exercise.  In therapy we set some goals for her which was to focus on her values and finding ways to better take care of herself.  We worked out specific times when she could use what little downtime she had to introduce some pleasurable activities.  In addition, I introduced mindfulness of every day events which helped her to stay focussed and reduce worrying about things.  Through Compassion Focussed Therapy she was able to let go of her perfectionist standards, which were impossible for her to maintain with two small children and she was also able to enjoy more quality time with her children as a result.  Regarding her demanding boss at work she practised assertive techniques and improved her skill of refusing unreasonable requests from him.  She also learned to communicate her needs better with her partner so that he was more willing to take on more of the caring responsibilities.  Regarding her mother she was able to reframe the situation and encouraged her mother to be more pro-active and engage in meaningful activities, especially social ones, which helped with her mother’s self confidence. She particularly liked the mindfulness practice of savouring the moment so that her times with her children were focussed on them, rather than worrying about all the chores she felt the need to do.   As she had more energy as she was sleeping better and worrying less, she did not feel the need to comfort eat and starting exercising again, particularly enjoying walks with her family. (Please note details have been changed to protect the client’s confidentiality.)