Student therapists have harsh self-evaluations and negative self-esteem during the early stages of training. Changes due to COVID-19 pandemic increased stress and self-doubt related to retention of didactic content and performance of clinical skills in healthcare students. Developing self-compassion, specifically, strategies to be kinder to oneself in times of uncertainty and to address the critic within, will not only help the students during their education but also in their future careers as healthcare providers.
This 2022 Scholarly/Artistic Activities Grant supported research project was done to determine the impact of self-compassion training in improving self-compassion and decreasing self-criticism among physical therapy (DPT) and occupational therapy (OTD) students.
Our quasi-experimental, pre-post intervention, repeated measures study assessed the impact of Self-Compassion training for Healthcare Community (SCHC) program on self-assessed compassion and self-criticism scores in physical therapy and occupational therapy students. SCHC program consisted of six 75-minute sessions, delivered once a week, for six weeks, via Zoom, by two certified Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) teachers. Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) assessing self-compassion across six domains (self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and over-identification), Functions of Self-Criticizing and Self- Attacking Scale (FSCS) assessing self-criticism and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale- 21 (DASS-21) to assess depression, anxiety and stress were administered before (pre intervention), and after (post intervention). Data was assessed with repeated measures ANOVA.
11 students (3 DPT & 7 OTD) completed the pre-SCHC, and 7 students (2 DPT & 4 OTD) completed the post-SCHS questionnaires. Due to limited sample size, results are not conclusively established. Not all participants had improved self-compassion scores after SCHC. Diverse reasons were found for why participants think they self-criticize with two themes of either to improve self or to express frustration.
Links between self-compassion, compassion for others, compassion fatigue and burnout are documented in healthcare providers. This study establishes the importance of self-compassion training during entry-level education of healthcare students before the start of their healthcare careers.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/preeti-oza/81/