Effects of the Mindful Self‐Compassion programme on clinical and health psychology trainees' well‐being: A pilot study

Abstract

Background Clinical and health psychologists are often exposed to occupational hazards, such as burnout and compassion fatigue, which originate from emotional demands at work. Mindful Self‐Compassion (MSC) training has been demonstrated to be useful in increasing well‐being and enhancing mental health. Although the use of the MSC programme in educational contexts has been suggested, an evaluation of its efficacy as a method to improve the competencies of trainees in clinical psychology has yet to be performed. Methods Our study used a sample of 61 adults (88.5% women) attending postgraduate courses in clinical and health psychology who participated in an 8‐week MSC programme. Their levels of self‐compassion, mindfulness, well‐being, anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention. Based on the participants' adherence to the MSC programme, two groups were created, that is, high (n = 30) versus low (n = 31) adherence. Results The participants in the high‐adherence group benefitted from the MSC programme because they increased their self‐compassion, mindfulness and psychological well‐being scores. The extent to which the participants reported to have been committed to the MSC practice was associated with changes in self‐compassion, mindfulness and psychological well‐being. Furthermore, the changes in self‐compassion were significantly correlated with changes in mindfulness and psychological well‐being. Conclusion The MSC programme offers a promising way to develop professional competencies and enhance the well‐being of trainees in clinical psychology.

Mindfulness-based positive psychology interventions: a systematic review

“…Benefits were maintained at follow-up after 12 months 7 Fredrickson et al [ 53 ] Field experiment 139 (E = 67, C = 72) Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM) (i) Mindfulness, (ii) Trait hope, (iii) Savoring beliefs, (iv) Optimism, (v) Ego resilience, (vi) Psychological well-being, (vii) Dyadic adjustment, (viii) Positive relations,, (ix) Illness symptoms, (x) Sleep quality, (xi)Satisfaction with life, (xii) Depression, (xiii)Differential emotions, (xiv) Time varying emotion experiences Seven weeks: six 60 min group sessions, asked to practice at home, at least 5 days per week, with the guided recordings Working adults LKM enhanced experience of positive emotions which benefittedpersonal resources including mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, and illness symptoms. Changes in personal resources predicted improved life satisfaction and reduced depression 8 Yela et al [ 52 ] Quasi-experimental pre-post design 61 (high adherence = 30, low adherence = 31) Mindful Self-Compassion (i) Self Compassion, (ii) Mindfulness, (iii) Well-being, (iv) Anxiety, (iv) Depression Eight weeks: 2.5 h session once a week Masters students in clinical and health psychology High adherence group reported better self-compassion, mindfulness, and well-being 9 Pogrebtsova et al [ 56 ] daily diary randomized controlled trial 106 (E = 36, C = 36, standard of care C = 34 Combined mindful re-appraisal intervention (i) Positive and negative experiences, (ii) Positive re-appraisal, (iii) Decentering, (iv) Curiosity, (v) Optimism Five-day Undergraduate university students Experimental group reported reduced negative affect and marginally higher positive affect 10 Smith et al [ 59 ] Longitudinal quasi experimental design for 2.5-years (two year course and six months follow up) 31 (E = 17, C = 14) Dharma in Daily Life (DIDL) 30 min per day, six days per week (I) Quality of life, (ii) Subjective well-being, (iii) Wellbeing, (iv) Valuing, (v) Psychological flexibility, (vi) Mindfulness, (vii) Cognitive fusion …”

“…They have studied the impact of the intervention on self-compassion, mindfulness, connectedness, happiness, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and stress in the first study and have added two more dependent variables in the second study, which are avoidance, and compassion for others. In another study, Yela et al [ 52 ] had explored the impact of a Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program on self-compassion, mindfulness, psychological well-being, anxiety, and depression among 61 psychology trainees. The intervention lasted for eight weeks, with a 2.5-hour session weekly.…”

“…Yela et al [ 52 ] had studied the effects of MSC program and found that it has a significant impact on self-compassion, mindfulness, and psychological well-being (PWB) or eudaimonia. Despite focusing on the enhancement of compassion alone, the intervention proved to be a potential MPI for eudaimonic enhancement.…”

“…One of these is an adapted preventive intervention for adolescent substance use and problem behavior, and could not be considered as an MPI. The target population for six studies was college/university students [ 38 , 39 , 47 , 52 , 56 , 57 ]. One of these has chosen only distressed students and none of the studies focused entirely on well-being.…”

Reductions in experiential avoidance explain changes in anxiety, depression and well‐being after a mindfulness and self‐compassion (MSC) training

“…Training self‐compassion skills is associated with improvements in well‐being (Neff & Germer, 2017; Yela et al, 2020) and reduced psychopathological symptoms (Friis et al, 2016; Inwood & Ferrari, 2018). Moreover, recent meta‐analyses concluded that self‐compassion interventions improved the levels of mindfulness and well‐being, and reduced stress, self‐criticism, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (Ferrari et al, 2019; Kirby, 2017; Wilson et al, 2019).…”