CFT rehab
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Compassion Focused Therapy in a mental health rehabilitation service: a feasibility and acceptability study
IRAS ID
342649
Contact name
Hannah Cooper
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
Mental health rehabilitation services support people with complex and enduring mental health difficulties to build skills and integrate into the community. Most people are diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and have additionally difficulties including lack of motivation, complex trauma, substance and alcohol misuse, learning impairment, and side effects of medication. As a population group, they often have significant stays in hospital with ongoing psychosis experiences including delusions, paranoia, and voice hearing. These factors make them one of the most disadvantaged groups and challenging to work with therapeutically (Bredski et al., 2011).
Compassion Focused Therapy is a psychological and social approach to treating shame and self-criticism in a wide range of mental health difficulties. CFT seeks to understanding suffering by turning towards it and doing what is helpful to alleviate this suffering. CFT has yet to be researched in a mental health rehabilitation population.
Adult participants will be recruited from inpatient and community rehabilitation teams in NHS Lothian. Clinical Psychologists and Trainee Clinical Psychologists working within these services will offer the CFT for psychosis intervention manualised by Heriot-Maitland et al. (2018). Adaptations will be made for each individual client based on their cognitive abilities and additional needs, such as memory and attention abilities. Psychosis may not always be the main focus of intervention as many people in rehabilitation services do not agree with their diagnosis. The team will receive monthly peer supervision and assess adherence to the model throughout. Changes in psychosis symptoms, self-compassion, social safeness, and mindfulness will be measured through questionnaires. Qualitative interviews will assess how helpful and acceptable participants found the intervention at the end of therapy.
This project will test the acceptability and feasibility of a manualised CFTp intervention specifically for people in a rehabilitation setting. It will also identify the adaptations necessary for this population.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0161
Date of REC Opinion
31 Mar 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion