The stance taken toward oneself in failure and pain.
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501 to 525 of 526Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgements.
The psychological and neurobiological processes underlying moral judgement have been the focus of many recent empirical studies. Of central interest is whether emotions play a causal role in moral judgement, and, in parallel, how emotion-related areas of the brain contribute to moral judgement. Here we show that six patients with focal bilateral damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC), a brain region necessary for the normal generation of emotions and, in particular, social emotions, produce an abnormally 'utilitarian' pattern of judgements on moral dilemmas that pit compelling considerations of aggregate welfare against highly emotionally aversive behaviours (for example, having to sacrifice one person's life to save a number of other lives). In contrast, the VMPC patients' judgements were normal in other classes of moral dilemmas. These findings indicate that, for a selecti…
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Mindful relating: exploring mindfulness and emotion repertoires in intimate relationships.
This study tested the theory that mindfulness contributes to greater intimate relationship satisfaction by fostering more relationally skillful emotion repertoires. A sample of married couples was administered measures of mindful awareness, emotion skills, and marital quality. We hypothesized that mindfulness would be associated with both marital quality and partners' emotion skills and that the association between mindfulness and marital quality would be mediated by emotion repertoire skill. Findings suggested that emotion skills and mindfulness are both related to marital adjustment, and that skilled emotion repertoires, specifically those associated with identifying and communicating emotions, as well as the regulation of anger expression, fully mediate the association between mindfulness and marital quality. Theoretical implications are discussed.
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Transition Needs Compassion: a Thematic Analysis of an Online Compassion-Focused Therapy Group in a Gender Service.
Objectives: Transgender and gender non-conforming people may face elevated rates of shame and self-criticism in light of minority stress. Compassion-focused therapy has a growing evidence base in addressing trans-diagnostic processes in mental health difficulties, including shame and self-criticism. The objective of the present study was to explore the experience of an initial pilot compassion-focused therapy group delivered online in a Gender Service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Six transgender people completed a semi-structured interview after attending an 8-week compassion-focused therapy group in a national Gender Service. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data.
Results: Four themes were identified from the data: Transition Needs Compassion; Acceptability of the Compassion-Focused Approach; Being in a group with other transgender people; and Onl…
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'All these things don't take the pain away but they do help you to accept it': making the case for compassion-focused therapy in the management of persistent pain.
Background: People with persistent pain are frequently offered a pain management programme (PMP) as part of their care plan. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles often underpin PMPs and has a good evidence base; nevertheless, more recent systematic reviews have suggested that its effectiveness is limited. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is a form of 'third-wave CBT' that offers an alternative and complementary view of pain, encouraging the person to be alongside their experience of pain and respond to it using skills of compassion they have learnt.
Method: The current research explored the effectiveness of a 12-week CFT group for people who experience persistent pain. Research interviews explored CFT members' experiences of the CFT group. Feedback was collected on the facilitators' experience of running the group and questionnaire data collected on participants' mood, pain dis…
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Pathways to Improving Mental Health in Compassion-Focused Therapy: Self-Reassurance, Self-Criticism and Affect as Mediators of Change.
Objective: The working mechanisms of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) remain understudied. Drawing on the theoretical model underlying CFT, we examined four putative working mechanisms - self-reassurance, self-criticism, positive/negative affect - in relation to changes in well-being and psychological distress. Methods: Data of a waitlist randomised controlled trial (N = 242) investigating the effectiveness of a self-help CFT-intervention in a non-clinical sample were analysed. Using single and multiple mediation models, we assessed if changes in self-reassurance, self-criticism and positive/negative affect during the intervention (3-month interval) mediated changes in well-being and depressive/anxiety symptoms from baseline to follow-up (6-month interval) compared to the waitlist condition. Results: For each outcome, single analyses revealed that the effects of CFT were significantly me…
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Rachwal F, Gredecki N (2026)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usInternational journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology2 citations A Phenomenological Investigation into the Use of Therapist Self-disclosure in Compassion-Focused Therapy With Forensic Clients.
Existing research has demonstrated the benefits of therapist self-disclosure (TSD) in strengthening therapeutic alliance. However, little is known about its effectiveness in the forensic context. The current research sought to address this gap by interviewing six Compassion Focused (CFT) therapists who had experience of working across a range of forensic settings. Results of an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) indicated that all participants advocated using TSD as a powerful therapeutic tool when working with forensic clients. However, there was a tension between balancing risk with the rewards of TSD, and participants expressed how the secure forensic environment was not conducive to its use. There was a consensus that TSD was more strongly discouraged with clients who had sexual convictions. For some, this had an impact on their own disclosures. Training on the function o…
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Zuair A (2025)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usJMIR formative research3 citations Effect of the Reassured Self-Compassion-Based School Program on Anxiety, Video Game Addiction, and Body Image Among Rural Female Adolescents: Retrospective Study.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified mental health challenges among adolescents, particularly in rural areas with limited access to services. In response, the Saudi government launched mental health campaigns and mandated schools to implement mental health programs. However, the effectiveness of these programs remains largely unreported.
Objective: This study aims to determine the prevalence of anxiety disorder symptoms, video game addiction, and body image dissatisfaction, as well as to examine the effect of a school-based program, The Reassured Self, grounded in compassion-focused therapy, on anxiety symptoms, video game addiction, and body image dissatisfaction among rural adolescent females in Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A retrospective secondary analysis of pre-post intervention data was used. All female middle school students (N=133; age: mean 13.7, SD 1.01 years) in grades 1…
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Defining compassion: A Delphi study of compassion therapists' experiences when introducing patients to the term 'compassion'.
Objectives: Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is shown to be an effective psychological intervention; however, patients can experience resistance to CFT due to preconceptions regarding the term 'compassion'. This study aims to obtain guidance from therapists in how to overcome these resistances DESIGN: This is the first study using the Delphi methodology to ask CFT therapists about how their patients understanding of the term compassion might act as a barrier to engaging with an otherwise beneficial therapy.
Methods: Two rounds of interview questions were posed to 15 expert CFT therapists.
Results: The results provide verification that there is resistance to CFT due to preconceptions around 'compassion', specifically its association with 'pity', 'weakness' and low-rank social positions. Further, this appears to be pronounced in patients who value competitiveness.
Conclusions: The results …
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Compassion-Focused Therapy for an Older Adult with Motor Functional Neurological Disorder: A Case Study.
Objectives: Motor functional neurological disorder (mFND) is a condition where individuals may experience difficulties such as tremors, gait impairments, and paralysis which are not explained by identified structural damage to the brain. Studies on chronic conditions have suggested that psychological interventions such as compassion-focused therapy (CFT) may be effective in improving well-being in people with mFND. However, no evidence is currently available on psychotherapy for older people with mFND.
Methods: A 12-session CFT intervention was delivered to an 81-year-old British male with mFND. Standardized measures were administered at baseline and post-intervention.
Results: At post-intervention, a 30% decrease in perceived psychological impact of mFND was found, along with clinically significant changes in anxiety and depression. Good levels of feasibility and acceptability were also…
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The power of compassion in group psycotherapy.
Research has repeatedly demonstrated that individual and group psychotherapy are equally effective. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) has been shown to be an effective approach to treating individuals with a wide range of presenting mental health concerns. In this study, we discuss the basic tenets of CFT and introduce a 12-module CFT group psychotherapy approach for college counseling centers. We use a clinical vignette to provide an example of how psychotherapists may implement this approach. We then discuss clinical applications, including strengths and limitations of this approach.
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Exploring the ability of individuals with an intellectual disability to generate and use a compassionate image.
Background: There is a growing interest in adapting third-wave therapies such as mindfulness for people who have intellectual disabilities. This study explored their ability to generate and use a compassionate image.
Method: Nineteen people with an intellectual disability and twenty people without were recruited from further education colleges. A compassion-focused therapy technique was adapted to help participants generate their own compassionate image, and examine whether they could use their images in potentially distressing situations.
Results: With appropriate support, participants with intellectual disabilities were just as able as those without disabilities to generate their own compassionate image. They were also able to generate self-soothing statements.
Conclusions: The participants' success in generating compassionate images suggests this approach may have clinical utility wit…
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The development of the Compassion Focused Therapy Therapist Competence Rating Scale.
Objectives: Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) has shown promise as a treatment for a number of clinical presentations; however, existing studies have not adequately addressed issues of treatment fidelity. The aims of the present study were to identify initial candidate items that may be included in a CFT therapist competence rating scale and to develop the behavioural indicators to anchor these items.
Design: The Delphi method was used to develop and operationalize the competencies required for inclusion in a CFT therapist competence rating scale over five rounds.
Methods: Face-to-face meetings with two CFT experts were conducted in rounds one, two, and five, and these were used to define and operationalize the competencies. Nine other CFT experts were invited to complete online surveys in rounds two and four. An 80% consensus level was applied to the online surveys.
Results: The resultin…
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Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Pilot Study.
Background: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the first-choice intervention for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); however, a notable proportion of patients either do not respond to treatment or relapse after CBT. Mindfulness-based treatment has been suggested as an alternative or complementary therapeutic strategy for OCD. However, only a few studies have focused on its application in clinical samples.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of a new treatment, called "Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for OCD." It is an 11-session manualized group intervention that integrates elements of CBT, mindfulness, compassion-focused therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy.
Methods: The program was delivered to 35 patients with a primary diagnosis of OCD.
Results: Participants demonstrated good adherence to the intervention. There was a significant reduction in mean total score on the Y…
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Finding confidence and inner trust as a parent: experiences of group-based compassion-focused therapy for the parents of adolescents with mental health problems.
Purpose: Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) can alleviate the stress and challenges faced by the parents of adolescents with mental health (MH) problems. Although CFT interventions have shown promising results, few studies have examined its effectiveness in adolescent psychiatric settings. Therefore, this study examined the participant experiences of group-based CFT for the parents of adolescents with MH problems. Methods: The reflective lifeworld research (RLR) approach was used to conduct in-depth interviews with eleven parents, focusing on participant experiences of group-based CFT. Meaning-oriented data analysis was undertaken. Results: The essential meaning of the phenomenon of participating in group-based CFT was understood as finding confidence and inner trust as a parent, characterized by an understanding of one's own needs, which provided parents with the confidence to support the…
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The Evaluation of a Compassion-Focused Therapy Group for Couples Experiencing a Dementia Diagnosis.
Objectives: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) group on reducing anxiety, depression, and respiratory rate (RR) in people with dementia (PwD) and their spouses, and improving quality of life (QoL) of PwD.
Method: Sixty-four participants completed six weekly CFT sessions. Baseline and post-intervention assessments were analyzed using t-tests and Reliability Change Index.
Results: Mean baseline and post-assessment anxiety and depression scores fell in the 'normal range'; although a significant reduction in depression with moderate effect was observed for PwD. Fifty-seven percent of PwD with borderline to abnormal baseline scores showed clinically significant improvement in anxiety and depression. For spouses, 80% showed clinically significant improvement in depression and 50% in anxiety. RR reduced for PwD and spouses with large and medium effects …
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Therapist competencies necessary for the delivery of compassion-focused therapy: A Delphi study.
Objectives: Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) has shown promising results for a range of clinical presentations. This study explored the therapeutic competencies required to deliver CFT and organized these into a coherent framework.
Design: The Delphi method was used to explore and refine competencies for delivering CFT in three rounds of data collection.
Methods: The first round involved interviews with 12 experts in CFT. Data were analysed using template analysis to generate a draft competency framework. The main competencies were used to create a survey for rounds two and three involving CFT experts and practitioners. Data collected from the surveys were used to refine the competencies.
Results: The CFT competency framework (CFT-CF) that was produced comprised 25 main competencies within six key areas of competence. The areas were as follows: competencies in creating safeness, meta-ski…
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A compassionate-focused therapy group approach for acute inpatients: feasibility, initial pilot outcome data, and recommendations.
Objectives: This study aimed to examine the feasibility of running and evaluating a compassion-focused therapy (CFT) group adapted for acute inpatient settings, characterized by unpredictable lengths of admission, presentations, and diagnoses.
Design and methods: This pilot project used a mixed methods design to assess the impact of offering CFT-informed group sessions on an acute inpatient unit. Pre- and post-session ratings of distress and calmness, and ratings of understanding and helpfulness, were gathered from participants over a 6-month period. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four participants to gather their experience of the group.
Results: Fifty-seven complete sets of rating measures were generated from 82 participants recruited for the study (attrition rate 30%), from a total pool of 93 inpatients attending group sessions. Pre- to post-CFT session data highlighte…
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A novel technology-enhanced internalized stigma and shame intervention for HIV-positive persons with substance use disorders.
Internalized stigma, shame, and other negative self-conscious emotions are inadequately addressed barriers to HIV-related self-care, particularly among people actively using substances. Innovative approaches are needed to optimize antiretroviral treatment (ART) adherence as well as engagement in HIV care among people living with HIV and substance use disorders. Based on qualitative feedback from providers and patients, we iteratively developed and conducted a proof-of-concept study of a relatively brief transdiagnostic emotion regulation intervention designed to improve ART adherence care by addressing behavioral and psychological barriers, including internalized stigma and shame, among people living with HIV and active substance use disorders. The final intervention included 5 individual sessions focused on metacognitive awareness of emotions and thoughts, cognitive reframing of dysfunc…
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Investigating the Feasibility of Brief Compassion Focused Therapy in Individuals in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder.
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide, and is notoriously difficult to treat. Compassion focused therapy (CFT) has emerged as therapeutic tool for treating individuals exhibiting high levels of self-criticism and low self-esteem, both of which are common in OUD. Until now, however, there had been no research investigating this therapy in patients with OUD. Before running a premature clinical trial, it is important to fully assess the feasibility and acceptability of this treatment in this group of individuals. We aimed to assess the feasibility of CFT treatment in individuals with OUD in a short group intervention, which was co-created by the research team, service users and a local drugs service. The intervention involved three 2-hour sessions held over 3 weeks, where participants engaged in compassion-orientated psychoeducation and self-compassionate exer…
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Asano K, Tsuchiya M, Okamoto Y, Ohtani T, Sensui T, Masuyama A, Isato A, Shoji M, Shiraishi T, Shimizu E, Irons C, Gilbert P (2022)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usFrontiers in psychology5 citations Benefits of group compassion-focused therapy for treatment-resistant depression: A pilot randomized controlled trial.
Major depression is one of the most common mental health problems worldwide. More than one-third of patients suffer from treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In this study, we explored the feasibility of group compassion-focused therapy (CFT) for TRD using a randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups. Eighteen participants were randomly allocated to the intervention group (CFT and usual care) and control group (usual care alone) and a participant in each group withdrew. Participants in the intervention group received a 1.5-h session every week for 12 weeks. The effects of the intervention on the participants' scores were calculated using a linear mixed model. There was a larger reduction in their depressive symptoms and fears of compassion for self and a greater increase in their compassion for self compared to the control group participants. The reliable clinical indices show…
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A Compassion-Focused Ecological Momentary Intervention for Enhancing Resilience in Help-Seeking Youth: Uncontrolled Pilot Study.
Background: Digital interventions offer new avenues for low-threshold prevention and treatment in young people. Ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) represent a powerful approach that allows for adaptive, real-time, and real-world delivery of intervention components in daily life by real-time processing of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data. Compassion-focused interventions (CFIs) may be particularly amenable to translation into an EMI to strengthen emotional resilience and modify putative risk mechanisms, such as stress sensitivity, in the daily lives of young help-seeking individuals.
Objective: This study aims to investigate the feasibility, safety, and initial therapeutic effects of a novel, accessible, transdiagnostic, ecological momentary CFI for improving emotional resilience to stress (EMIcompass).
Methods: In this uncontrolled pilot study, help-seeking youth with ps…
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Can emotions influence level-1 visual perspective taking?
Emotions and perspective-taking are ubiquitous in our daily social interactions, but little is known about the relation between the two. This study examined whether and how emotions can influence even the most basic forms of perspective-taking. Experiment 1 showed that guilt made participants more other-centered in a simple visual perspective-taking task while anger tended to make them more self-centered. These two emotions had, however, no effect on the ability to handle conflicting perspectives. Since the guilt induction method used in Experiment 1 also induced feelings of self-incompetence and shame, Experiment 2 aimed at isolating the effects of these concomitant feelings. Self-incompetence/shame reduced participants' ability to handle conflicting perspectives but did not influence attention allocation. In sum, these results highlight that emotions can affect even the simplest form o…
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Compassion-focused therapy with autistic adults.
Some autistic adults experience repeated adverse events, including rejection, victimization and stigmatization. They also describe others being critical and negatively judging them, such as for how they socially interact or for expressing passion for particular interests. The impact of these adverse events can be substantial, including increasing vulnerability for poorer mental health, and contributing to development of negative self beliefs (such as "I am different" or "I do not fit in") and shame-based difficulties. Not all evidence-based psychological therapies are well-received by autistic people, or effective. Given high rates of self-harm and suicidality, finding acceptable and effective therapies for autistic adults is paramount. Here, writing as autistic and non-autistic clinicians and researchers, we outline the theoretical principles of compassion-focused theory and therapy (CF…
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Moral Injury and Suicide Ideation Among Israeli Combat Veterans: The Contribution of Self-Forgiveness and Perceived Social Support.
Modern warfare within a civilian setting may expose combatants to severe moral challenges. Whereas most of these challenges are handled effectively, some potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) may have deleterious psychological, spiritual, and interpersonal effects among them, which may increase the risk for suicide ideation and behaviors (SIB). In this study, we aimed to examine the protective role of self-forgiveness and perceived social support on the relationship between exposure to PMIEs and SIB among combat veterans. A sample of 191 Israeli combat veterans completed validated self-report questionnaires in a cross-sectional design study, tapping moral injury, SIB, perceived social support, and self-forgiveness. Veterans with a history of SIB revealed higher levels of exposure to PMIEs and lower levels of self-forgiveness and perceived social support than veterans with no SIB h…
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Laura Barnard; John F. Curry (2011)in a Crossref-registered journal, peer review not confirmed, not read by usReview of General Psychology829 citations
Self-Compassion: Conceptualizations, Correlates, & Interventions
Within American psychology, there has been a recent surge of interest in self-compassion, a construct from Buddhist thought. Self-compassion entails: (a) being kind and understanding toward oneself in times of pain or failure, (b) perceiving one's own suffering as part of a larger human experience, and (c) holding painful feelings and thoughts in mindful awareness. In this article we review findings from personality, social, and clinical psychology related to self-compassion. First, we define self-compassion and distinguish it from other self-constructs such as self-esteem, self-pity, and self-criticism. Next, we review empirical work on the correlates of self-compassion, demonstrating that self-compassion has consistently been found to be related to well-being. These findings support the call for interventions that can raise self-compassion. We then review the theory and empirical suppo…
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