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

Beaumont, EA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8259-5858, Irons, C, Rayner, G and Dagnall, N 2016, 'Does compassion focused therapy training for healthcare educators and providers increase self-compassion, and reduce self-persecution and self-criticism?' , Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 36 (1) , pp. 4-10.

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of Health and Society
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions
Publisher:	Wolters Kluwer / LWW Journals
ISSN:	0894-1912
Related URLs:	Publication
Funders:	Non funded research
Depositing User:	Dr Elaine Beaumont
Date Deposited:	21 Dec 2015 15:09
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2019 14:00
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/37631

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