None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Research suggests that psychotherapists tend to report higher levels of work-related stress- and burnout- spectrum conditions than many other occupational groups. Work-related stress has serious implications for the mental and physical well-being of psychotherapists, and may lead to professional impairment, thus compromising the provision of care. As a result, researchers have highlighted the importance of identifying variables that (a) enhance psychotherapists’ psychological wellbeing and resilience to stress; and (b) are capable of development through training. In particular, it has been argued that the development of interventions to improve resilience and psychological health amongst trainee psychologists is of paramount importance, given the elevated levels of stress amongst this sub-group. Recent research suggests that self-compassion is a promising construct for psychotherapists in terms of its ability to promote psychological well-being and resilience to stress; however, the potential benefits of self-compassion are yet to be thoroughly explored amongst this occupational group. Study One will involve conducting a cross-sectional, correlational study of self-compassion amongst practising psychotherapists (including trainees), and using Structural Equation Modelling to explore the relationship between self-compassion and stress, as well as the potential mediating role of happiness and emotion regulation in this relationship. In Study Two, a randomized controlled trial will be conducted to investigate the utility of a self-guided, self-compassion-based intervention delivered via the Internet for increasing self-compassion, and promoting psychological well-being and resilience to stress amongst postgraduate trainee psychology students currently engaged in clinical work.
Interventions
Study One will involve conducting a cross-sectional, correlational study of self-compassion amongst practising psychotherapists (including trainees), and using Structural Equation Modelling to explore the relationship between self-compassion and stress, as well as the potential mediating role of happiness and emotion regulation in this relationship. Measures for Study One will be administered online, and the study will be open to participants at least until the requisite sample size is reached
Study One will involve conducting a cross-sectional, correlational study of self-compassion amongst practising psychotherapists (including trainees), and using Structural Equation Modelling to explore the relationship between self-compassion and stress, as well as the potential mediating role of happiness and emotion regulation in this relationship. Measures for Study One will be administered online, and the study will be open to participants at least until the requisite sample size is reached (>155). Upon completion of the online measures for Study One, eligible participants will be given the opportunity to register for Study Two. In Study Two, a randomized controlled trial will be conducted to investigate the utility of a self-guided, self-compassion-based intervention delivered via the Internet for increasing self-compassion, and promoting psychological well-being and resilience to stress amongst postgraduate trainee psychology students currently engaged in clinical work. In Study Two, if participants are randomly allocated to the intervention group, treatment will be based on Germer and Neff's (2011) Mindful Self-Compassion program, adapted for online administration and tailored for postgraduate students. This program is a combination of mindfulness- and self-compassion-based meditations, written and behavioural exercises, psychoeducation, self-monitoring, and feedback aimed at increasing self-compassion, increasing psychological wellbeing, and reducing psychological distress. The program will be provided through the website "Self-Compassion Online". A time period of 8 weeks will be allocated to all participants to complete the program (a total of 8 modules). It is anticipated that each module will take approximately 2 hours to complete.
Sponsors
Associate Professor Clare Rees
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
To be eligible for the study, participants must be postgraduate psychology students currently enrolled in a psychology Master’s, Doctorate, or PhD course at an Australian university, and currently undergoing clinical training, have access to the internet, and have a low self-compassion score on the SCS (i.e., a score of 65 or below; Neff, 2009b).
Exclusion criteria
NA
Outcome results
None listed