Recent reviewers of the group psychotherapy literature have called for the introduction of new constructs that may contribute to a deeper understanding of what it is about process groups that make them effective in eliciting change. To this end, this study investigates the potential of a newly defined and operationalized construct known as self-compassion. Drawing on the writings of various scholars of Buddhism, Neff has theorized that self-compassion consists of three main, mutually influential components: self-kindness (the act of being gentle with oneself in instance of pain or failure); mindfulness (holding painful thoughts and feelings in balanced awareness, without over-identifying with them); and common humanity (the perception of one’s experiences as part of the larger human experience). This paper argues that there are strong parallels between each of these three components and existing theory on the mechanisms of change in group psychotherapy. The study was motivated by the belief that preliminary quantitative support for the role of self-compassion in change through groups may highlight the importance of the construct and help orient both group practitioners and group researchers towards a new theoretical lens through which the power of groups may be better understood. 92 subjects were enrolled in the study: 57 in a non-treatment Control condition, and 35 in a Treatment condition. The Control group was comprised of undergraduates from the Educational Psychology Department subject pool at the University of Texas at Austin; the Treatment group was formed by UT undergraduate and graduate students who were enrolled in a process psychotherapy group at the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center. A pre-test/post-test design was employed, with subjects taking identical surveys at baseline (beginning of Fall 2007 semester) and follow-up (end of the same semester). A variety of inferential statistical techniques were utilized, and results indicated that there was a significant relationship between participation in process group psychotherapy and positive mental health outcomes as measured by self-report levels of depression, perceived stress, and happiness; that participation in a therapy group was associated with increased levels of self-compassion; and that as a predictor of mental health outcome in relation to therapy groups, self-compassion was on the whole equivalent to one construct (hope) often cited in the group literature as a powerful therapeutic mechanism, and a more powerful predictor than another (altruism). The overall results offer exciting implications for future research and clinical practice, as they suggest that self-compassion may well serve as an important component of a robust theoretical, organizing lens through which the power of group psychotherapy may be more clearly understood.
目次
Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Review and Integration of the Literature 5 Conceptualization of Group Psychotherapy 5 Existing Research on Group Psychotherapy 9 Self-Compassion 14 The Role of Self-Compassion in Classic Process Group Psychotherapy 24 Rationale for the Study 33 Chapter 3: Methods 37 Research Questions and Hypotheses 37 Participants 40 Procedure 41 Instruments 46 Chapter 4: Results 51 Sample Description 51 Preliminary Analyses 52 Investigation of Possible Sample Bias 53 Means of Initial Measures 55 Participation by Specific Therapy Group 58 Baseline Correlations of Study Measures 60 Baseline Correlations of SCS Subscales 61 Hypothesis 1 63 Depression 64 Perceived Stress 65 Subjective Happiness 66 Hypothesis 2 68 Overall Self-Compassion 68 Self-Compassion Subscales 72 Self-Kindness Subscale 72 Self-Judgment Subscale 74 Common Humanity Subscale 75 Isolation Subscale 77 Mindfulness Subscale 78 Over-identification Subscale 80 Three Components of Self-Compassion 81 Overall Self-Kindness 82 Overall Common-Humanity 84 Overall Mindfulness 86 Hypothesis 3 87 Hypothesis 4 90 Depression 92 Perceived Stress 95 Subjective Happiness 96 Hypothesis 5 97 Appendices 120 Appendix A: Study Survey Packet 121 Beck Depression Inventory – Short Form 122 Perceived Stress Scale 124 Subjective Happiness Scale 126 State Hope Scale 128 Attitudes Toward Helping Others Scale 129 Self-Compassion Scale 131 Demographic Information 133 Appendix B: Group Leader Demographic Request Form 134 Appendix C: Group Leader Information Sheet 135 Appendix D: Recommended Group Leader Recruitment Script 137 Appendix E: Group Leader Summary 138 Appendix F: Information Sheet for Treatment Group Participants 139 Appendix G: Information Sheet for Subject Pool Participants 141 Appendix H: Initial Correspondence to Subject Pool 144 Appendix I: Second Correspondence to Subject Pool 146 Appendix J: Third Correspondence to Subject Pool 147 Appendix K: Follow-up Webpage (Subject Pool) 148 Appendix L: Webpage Announcing Raffle Winner 149 Appendix M: Study Debriefing Webpage (Treatment Group) 150 Appendix N: Study Debriefing Webpage (Control Group) 151 Appendix O: Study Proposal to CMHC 152 References 157 Vita 166
