Title: Development of a mental health program using self-compassion
Abstract:
Objective: The aim of this study is to develop a mental health programme that incorporates self-compassion into a conventional stress reduction programme.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused not only an epidemic of anxiety in the world, but also an increase in suicides. Although the effects of the pandemic are now in the past, people's mental health has not returned to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Our survey in Japan in January 2023 showed that people's mental health was still at a level of 'psychological stress equivalent'. It is clear that people are still under stress, even though life is returning to the way it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the stress coping of people adjusting to the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the author focused on self-compassion. Self-compassion is the ability to be kind to oneself in difficult situations, to accept one's feelings as they are, in a balanced way, and to recognise that one's suffering is shared by others and that this is the human way of being (Neff, 2003). Higher levels of self-compassion are associated with higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction, motivation, relationships, physical health, anxiety and depression, and lower levels of resilience, as reported by Neff et al. (Neff, Germer, 2019).
Methods: A four-session programme was developed by adding self-compassion enhancement work from Neff's (Neff, 2019) workbook to the stress management programme.
Results: The mental health programme with self-compassion is a four-session programme of 90 minutes per session, delivered in groups of up to 10 participants. The sessions consist of lectures and work on objectifying the state of mind, self- compassion, deepening mindfulness and taking care of oneself.
Consideration: The four sessions of the mental health programme developed are half the number of sessions of the regular eight-session self-compassion course. A pilot study of a mental health programme incorporating self-compassion work into stress management was conducted and participants indicated that the stress awareness and soothing touch methods were effective. The programme should be implemented in the future to test its effectiveness.
Audience Take Away Notes:
- Audience can use the four sessions of the self-compassion program as a mental health program to reduce stress
- How will this help the audience in their job? Is this research that other faculty could use to expand their research or teaching? Does this provide a practical solution to a problem that could simplify or make a designer’s job more efficient? Will it improve the accuracy of a design, or provide new information to assist in a design problem? List all other benefits
- Nurses and researchers involved in health care can help maintain and improve people's mental health with the self-compassion-enhancing programs developed
- Programs can be used to help people reduce depression and improve resilience
- The program can be used to improve people's stress management as well as their wellbeing
