Self-Compassion Focused Writing Practices: A Systematic Review

Abstract

In the current systematic review study, it is focused on examining the interventions of 'self-compassion-focused writing', which is a method that combines the concept of self-compassion, which has gained attention in the psychology literature in recent years, and the Written Emotional Disclosure Paradigm which is based on expressing emotions by writing. For this purpose, ScienceDirect, PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, EbscoHost and DergiPark databases were searched through various keywords. Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study, 31 studies determined to be fit for purpose were examined in terms of sample characteristics, methodology and results. It was observed that the studies were generally conducted with college students and predominantly female, the results were compared with the active intervention groups, random assignment was made to the groups, and repeated measurements were taken. Generally, it has been determined that self-compassion-focused writing provides positive changes on psychological (depression, positive/negative affect), body-related (body satisfaction, body image) and physical (pain) variables. In the reviewed studies, it was concluded that self-compassion-focused writing generally tended to produce stronger positive results compared to active control groups (traditional writing, self-esteem-based writing). Besides, it was observed that the positive changes obtained in studies that carried out follow-up evaluations tended to continue partially. The results show that self-compassion-focused writing is a promising method.

A self-compassion expressive writing intervention for sexual victimization stigma.

“…The immediacy of these benefits is consistent with the idea that self-compassion helps to quickly sooth, self-affirm, and promote a sense of calm when one's self-image is threatened (Gilbert, 2021;Wong et al, 2019). This supports the use of self-compassionate expressive writing to help manage acute instances of negative self-image arising from SV (Aydoğdu & Dirik, 2022;Gilbert, 2021).…”

“…Experimental trials generally support self-compassionate therapies for trauma delivered via reflective writing. Over a variety of trauma contexts, self-compassionate writing has been shown to improve state affect, emotional regulation, levels of depression, anxiety, PTSD symptomatology, self-esteem, and use of adaptive coping (Aydoğdu & Dirik, 2022; Stynes et al, 2022; Urken & LeCroy, 2021). Studies have also reported that the effectiveness of this approach is associated with reduced self-blame and self-shame in participants (Au et al, 2017; Leary et al, 2007; Stynes et al, 2022).…”

Self‐compassionate reflective writing for affect regulation in Australian perinatal women

“…Using Neff's three‐domain conceptualization of self‐compassion, participants were then asked to describe the difficult emotions they have experienced during the perinatal period from an accepting and balanced perspective (Q1: mindfulness domain), to reflect upon the ways in which their challenges were connected to the broader shared experience of perinatal women (Q2: common humanity domain), and to express kindness, warmth, and understanding to themselves as they navigated their way through the perinatal period (Q3: self‐kindness domain). Previous research has demonstrated that self‐compassionate written reflections typically range from 3 to 30 min in length (Aydoğdu & Dirik, 2022). Moreover, interventions targeting a single domain of self‐compassion (i.e., self‐kindness) have induced state changes in self‐compassion in brief 3‐min reflections (e.g., Moffitt et al, 2023).…”

Mind-Body Medicine: A Funder´s Perspective

“…Self-compassion based interventions, including selfcompassion focused writing, have shown to have beneficial effects on psychological and physical variables (Aydoğdu and Dirik, 2022;Kirby et al, 2017;Swee et al, 2023;Wakelin et al, 2022).…”