Compassion focused therapy: Exploring the effectiveness with a transdiagnostic group and potential processes of change.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a compassion focused therapy (CFT) group with a transdiagnostic population, as compared to treatment as usual (TAU). A secondary aim was to explore the potential processes of change within the treatment. DESIGN: A non-randomized control trial was used. METHOD: Fifty-eight participants who engaged in group CFT were compared to 29 participants receiving TAU. Group CFT consisted of 14 sessions twice weekly for 5 weeks and once weekly for 4 weeks. Participants completed measures of psychopathology, shame, self-criticism, fears of self-compassion, and social safeness, at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 2-month follow-up. Potential processes of change were examined using correlations and regression analysis. RESULTS: Significantly greater improvements were found for levels of psychopathology, fears of self-compassion and social safeness for CFT, compared to TAU. Additionally, analyses showed improvements in shame and self-criticism within the CFT group but not the TAU group. All improvements were maintained at 2-month follow-up. Improvements in psychopathology were predicted by changes in self-criticism and fears of self-compassion. CONCLUSION: Compassion focused therapy appears to be an effective group intervention for a range of mental health difficulties. The positive impact of the CFT model with a transdiagnostic group emphasizes the value of addressing underlying psychological process, rather than symptoms alone. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Compassion focused therapy is a multimodal therapy designed to target high levels of shame and self-criticism. Compassion focused therapy has been shown previously to have positive results within a range of diagnostic-specific populations. While there is an emerging research base, limited studies assessing effectiveness with transdiagnostic populations have been published. CFT was shown to have a significant effect in reducing levels of psychopathology, compared to TAU. A number of potential processes of change were identified: Changes in psychopathology were significantly correlated with changes in self-criticism and fears of self-compassion.

A controlled clinical evaluation of the Parents Plus Children's Programme for parents of children aged 6-12 with mild intellectual disability in a school setting.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the parent training, Parents Plus Children's Programme (PPCP) as an intervention for parents of children with mild intellectual disabilities. Participants were parents of children, aged six to 12, attending a special school for children with mild general learning disability (n = 29). Minor programme adaptations were made. Pre and post-assessment included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Parenting Stress Index, the Kansas Parent Satisfaction Scale and parent identified personal and child-related goals. A significant reduction in clinical range scores for treatment group participants (n = 16) was observed. Conversely, clinical range scores for control group participants (n = 13) increased, or remained elevated. These preliminary results suggest that PPCP may be successfully delivered as a routine community-based intervention and aid to prevent and reduce behavioural problems, reduce parent stress and increase parent confidence and satisfaction. Further investigation of programme effectiveness for parents of children with developmental disability is warranted.