Self compassion for clinicians: what the research actually shows

You have probably recommended it to a client this month. Slow down. Be kind to yourself. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to a good friend.

And you may not have taken your own advice in a while.

That gap is common among healthcare workers, and it is worth looking at honestly, because the research on self-compassion for clinicians specifically is stronger than most of us realize. Here is what it actually shows.

What self-compassion is, and what it is not

Kristin Neff, who built the first scale to measure it (Neff, 2003a), describes self-compassion in three parts. Self-kindness instead of harsh self-judgment. Common humanity, the reminder that struggling and falling short are part of being human rather than proof that you alone are failing. And mindfulness, holding hard feelings in balanced awareness instead of being swept away by them or pushing them down.

It helps to be clear about what it is not, because the misgivings are what stop most clinicians from trying. Self-compassion is not self-pity. It is not letting yourself off the hook. It is not weakness, and it is not lowering your standards. If anything, the evidence points the other way.

What the research shows

It is linked to well-being. A meta-analysis combining data across many studies found a robust relationship between self-compassion and well-being (Zessin, Dickhäuser & Garbade, 2015). This is a pattern across a large body of work, not one hopeful result.

It matters for healthcare workers in particular. A review of the literature on mindfulness, self-compassion and empathy among health care professionals found self-compassion associated with lower burnout and greater resilience and emotional well-being in clinicians (Raab, 2014). The people caring for everyone else tend to do better when some of that care turns inward.

It buffers the weight of hard clinical work. Self-compassion has been linked to lower post-traumatic stress symptoms, including in groups carrying significant trauma exposure (Hiraoka et al., 2015). For clinicians absorbing difficult material session after session, that buffering is not a small thing.

It does not make you complacent. Here is the misgiving answered directly. Across a series of studies, self-compassion was associated with more motivation to improve after a setback, not less (Breines & Chen, 2012). Self-compassion is not what lowers your standards. Self-criticism is often what keeps you stuck.

Why it works: the physiology

This is where it stops being a nice idea and becomes a nervous-system intervention.

Paul Gilbert, who developed Compassion-Focused Therapy, describes a threat system in the body. Under perceived threat, the amygdala fires and we release cortisol and adrenaline (Gilbert, 2009). Harsh self-criticism runs on that same system. When you attack yourself, your body responds as though it is under attack.

Self-compassion draws on a different system, the mammalian caregiving system. Soothing touch and a gentle tone release oxytocin and opiates, the same chemistry that settles an infant (Gilbert, 2009). One study found that self-soothing touch measurably reduced cortisol, the stress hormone (Dreisoerner et al., 2021). You are not talking yourself out of stress. You are giving your body a different signal.

The good news: it is a skill, not a trait

You are not simply born self-compassionate or not. It is trainable, and the eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion program built by Neff and Germer was designed and tested to teach it (Neff & Germer, 2013). Like any clinical skill, it responds to practice.

If your inner critic is louder than it needs to be

I am running a live workshop on exactly this. Quiet the Critic: The Science and Practice of Mindful Self-Compassion is on October 8. It is a practical hour, the evidence alongside the actual practices, built for healthcare workers who are good at caring for everyone but themselves.

You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/quiet-the-critic-the-science-and-practice-of-mindful-self-compassion-tickets-1998456506207

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Ready to book in for the 8-week deep dive program? You can check out when our next group is on our booking site.

Need more info on the full program? Check out all the details on our Online MSC Webpage.

Still not sure? Book a free 15-minute Discovery call with Owner & Online MSC Facilitator, Cassi Starc.

References

• Neff, K. D. (2003a). Development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223-250.

• Zessin, U., Dickhäuser, O., & Garbade, S. (2015). The Relationship Between Self-Compassion and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 7(3), 340-364.

• Raab, K. (2014). Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Empathy Among Health Care Professionals: A Review of the Literature.

• Hiraoka, R., Meyer, E. C., Kimbrel, N. A., DeBeer, B. B., Gulliver, S. B., & Morissette, S. B. (2015). Self-compassion as a prospective predictor of PTSD symptom severity.

• Breines, J. G., & Chen, S. (2012). Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

• Gilbert, P. (2009). The Compassionate Mind.

• Dreisoerner et al. (2021). Self-soothing touch and cortisol reduction.

• Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the Mindful Self-Compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology.