Compassion and complex interpersonal trauma in adolescence: An early systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Whilst childhood trauma has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for poly-psychopathology, compassion-focused interventions have emerged as transdiagnostic treatment modality. However, no previous systematic review has specifically explored the relationship between complex interpersonal trauma and compassion in adolescence. The aim of this early systematic review was to evaluate the existing evidence on the role of compassion in adolescents with complex interpersonal trauma. METHODS: A systematic search of electronic databases was undertaken to identify cross-sectional and intervention studies that examined the role of compassion in the amelioration of psychopathology in adolescence. RESULTS: Nine studies, including three intervention studies and six cross-sectional studies, met the inclusion criteria. The findings suggested a mediating role of compassion in trauma-specific and overall psychopathology. CONCLUSION: Despite the dearth of research, this review suggests that integrating compassion might mediate the relationship between complex trauma and psychopathology in adolescents.

Working Relationally with Adolescents Who Have Experienced Complex Interpersonal Trauma: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

The study explores practitioners' experiences of working with adolescents with complex interpersonal trauma. Five mental health professionals were recruited via purposive and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to identify themes related to the research question. Three superordinate themes emerged: "The distance-relationship dynamic"; "The unknown self"; "Practitioners' presence". Participants reported the fragility of their relationships with clients, enhanced awareness of their professional and personal identity, and highlighted the importance of meeting their clients as persons. Results are discussed within the literature that considers the role of the person of the therapist to foster therapeutic change. Future research could explore the role of therapeutic distance, the interplay between transference-countertransference and attachment dynamics, and the relevance of practitioners' playfulness with traumatised youth. Finally, this study proposes a model of use of self as "compassion-in-action" to express practitioners' 'response-ability' to their clients' trauma as commitment to social justice.