Abstract
This thesis presents doctoral research conducted during training as a counselling psychologist. The research comprises three self-contained projects; a literature review, a quantitative research study and a qualitative investigation. The literature review focuses on research into Buddhist-derived compassion meditation and implications for working with children. The second project explores the relationship between Alcoholics Anonymous, self-compassion and shame, while the third piece of work draws on interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore how Generation X males experience internet pornography.