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Self‐Compassion in Clinical Practice
Author(s) -
Germer Christopher K.,
Neff Kristin D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22021
Subject(s) - psychology , compassion , kindness , self compassion , mindfulness , flourishing , session (web analytics) , psychotherapist , empathy , clinical psychology , psychopathology , meditation , humanity , social psychology , theology , world wide web , political science , computer science , law , philosophy
Self‐compassion is conceptualized as containing 3 core components: self‐kindness versus self‐judgment, common humanity versus isolation, and mindfulness versus overidentification, when relating to painful experiences. Research evidence demonstrates that self‐compassion is related to psychological flourishing and reduced psychopathology. Mindful Self‐Compassion (MSC) is an 8‐week training program, meeting 2.5 hours each week, designed to help participants cultivate self‐compassion. MSC contains a variety of meditations (e.g., loving‐kindness, affectionate breathing) as well as informal practices for use in daily life (e.g., soothing touch, self‐compassionate letter writing). A detailed clinical case illustrates the journey of a client through the 8 weeks of MSC training, describing the key features of each session and the client's response.