Learn More About The Evidence for Compassion Training.

Many people in the psychological professionals are really great at giving compassion to others, but find it harder to give to themselves. This can make it tough to navigate the stresses & demands of training & practicing in this field. While there is little research on Clinical Associate Psychologists, research relating to trainees in other psychological professions indicates that lack of self-compassion can add to distress and that compassion training could help….

The well-being of trainee therapists.

Stress in clinical psychology trainees has been well documented (Cushway, 1992; Kumary & Baker, 2008; Kuyken, Peters, Power Lavender, 1998; Rummell, 2015) & in other novice therapists  Skovholt & Ronnestad, 2003). Rummell (2015) found that a high proportion of trainees experience high levels of anxiety symptoms & Kuyken et al., (1998, 2003) found a number of trainees use self-blame, criticising or blaming themselves for stress & difficulties. Warren (2018) found that a subgroup of trainee clinical psychologists experienced high levels of stress and anxiety. Self-compassion was found to correlate with all measures & partially mediated the relationship with appraisals of threat, stress & anxiety.

These findings suggest that self-care strategies and teaching could be beneficial for trainees. Indeed, there is increasing recognition within psychological therapies that personal practice can have benefits both personally & professionally (Gale, Schröder, & Gilbert, P. (2017) & Kolts, et.al. (2018) 

The positive impacts of compassion training:

There is increasing evidence of how training in the cultivation of compassion can contribute to reducing distress & promoting well-being  (see Gilbert, 2017; Kirby, Tellegen, & Steindl, 2017; Seppala, et. al., 2017).

Initial evaluation of an eight-week Compassionate Mind training found support for the usefulness of Group CMT in community samples (Irons & Heriot-Maitland, 2021). Significant increases in compassion, self-reassurance, social rank, positive emotions, & well-being were found, alongside reductions in self-criticism, attachment anxiety, and distress. Changes were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Change scores indicated the importance of increases in self-compassion & reductions in self-criticism in overall improvements in well-being & psychological distress. Beaumont et al., (2021) have similarly reported positive outcomes of compassionate mind training on qualified health professionals. In related work, Bell,  Dixon, & Kolts, (2017) found that brief compassion training for trainee therapists can reduce worry, rumination & self-criticism whilst increasing self-reflection, attentional flexibility & approach behaviour.

  

 

How compassion training helps

Compassion Training leads to positive change in measures of both psychological & physiological well-being:

  • Reduction in shame and self-criticism, and in a variety of mental health symptoms (see Kirby, Doty, Petrocchi, & Gilbert, 2017 for a review). Changes in the autonomic nervous system, particularly the vagus (Di Bello, Carnevali, Petrocchi, et al., 2020; Petrocchi, & Cheli, 2019),

  • Neurophysiological effects on the amygdala and threat processing (Kim, Cunnington, & Kirby, 2020; Weng, Lapate, Stodola, Rogers, & Davidson, 2018).

  • Improvement in heart rate variability (Matos et al 2017)

Correlational research has also found that self-compassion is associated with:

  • Coping with setbacks and failures (Leary, Tate, Adams, Allen, & Hancock, 2007; Neff, Hsieh, & Dejitterat, 2005),

  • Lower levels of self-criticism (Neff, 2003; Neff & Vonk, 2009; Raes, 2010),

  •  Anger, anxiety, and shame (Barnard & Curry, 2012; Neff & Vonk, 2009; Raes, 2010),

  • Healthy approaches to physical health issues (Sirois, 2014).

  • Positive affect, happiness & optimism (Neff, Rude, & Kirkpatrick, 2007).

Initial evaluation of an eight-week Compassionate Mind training found support for the usefulness of Group CMT in community samples (Irons & Heriot-Maitland, 2021). Significant increases in compassion, self-reassurance, social rank, positive emotions, & well-being were found, alongside reductions in self-criticism, attachment anxiety, & distress. Changes were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Change scores indicated the importance of increases in self-compassion & reductions in self-criticism in overall improvements in well-being and psychological distress. Beaumont et al., (2021) have similarly found positive outcomes of compassionate mind training on qualified health professionals undertaking a compassion-focused therapy module. And in related work, Bell,  Dixon, & Kolts,  (2017) found that brief compassion training for trainee therapists can reduce worry, rumination & self-criticism whilst increasing self-reflection, & other positive aspects of therapist functioning.