Does compassion focused therapy training for healthcare
educators and providers increase self-compassion, and
reduce self-persecution and self-criticism?

Beaumont, EA; Irons, C; Rayner, G; Dagnall, N

Abstract

Introduction: There is a growing body of evidence within the healthcare community which suggests that developing feelings of compassion can have a profound impact on physical and psychological health. This is an important area of work, and initial research with non-professional groups has found that practicing compassion through a variety of experiential practices and meditations can lead to higher levels of compassion for others, sensitivity to suffering, motivation to help, and altruism. This study examines outcome measures following a three day introductory workshop on Compassionate Focused Therapy provided for healthcare providers and educators. The aim of the research was to explore whether the training would increase self-compassion and reduce self-criticism and self-persecution.
Method: Twenty-eight participants consisting of three groups ‘nurses/midwives’, ‘counsellors/psychotherapists’ and ‘other healthcare providers’ completed the Self-Compassion Scale and Functions of Self-Criticising/Attacking Scale pre and post-training.
Results: Results reveal an overall statistically significant increase in self-compassion and statistically significant reduction in self-critical judgement post-training. There was no statistically significant reduction in self-persecution or self-correction scores post-training.
Discussion: Developing self-compassion and compassionately responding to our own ‘self-critic’ may lead the way forward in the development of more compassionate care amongst healthcare professionals.
Practical Implications: Training people in compassion based exercises may bring changes in levels of self-compassion and self-critical judgement. The findings are exciting in that they suggest the potential benefits of training healthcare providers and educators in compassion focused practices.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 18, 2015
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Dec 21, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 24, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions
• Print ISSN: 0894-1912
• Electronic ISSN: 1554-558X
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 4-10
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/CEH.0000000000000023
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/CEH.0000000000000023
• Related Public URLs: https://journals.lww.com/jcehp/pages/default.aspx