Compassion Focused Psychosexual Therapy Group: A Grounded Theory
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Model of Change Processes for Women Attending a Psychosexual Therapy Group informed by Compassion Focused Therapy: a Grounded Theory Study
IRAS ID
264103
Contact name
Gemma Egginton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Holloway, University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
Pain during sex is distressing, negatively impacting quality of life (Donaldson & Meana, 2011). Psychosexual therapy aims to reduce pain during sex and its associated distress. There is potential to further develop theory and practice of psychosexual therapy, potentially improving effectiveness of interventions. Compassion focused therapy (CFT) can help people become less self-critical, reduce shame and enhance self-compassion (being kind to oneself). It has been shown to be helpful for difficulties such as depression (Teasdale et al., 2000) and chronic pain (Penlington, 2018). Due to existing research in other areas, a sexual health service piloted a CFT-informed psychosexual therapy group for women experiencing pain during sex. The current study aims to explore women’s experiences of attending this group. The study will explore what the women perceive as helpful or unhelpful about the group, how they perceive the role of shame, self-criticism and self-compassion in their experiences of pain during sex and whether they noticed any changes to these after attending the group.
Women who have attended the CFT-informed psychosexual therapy group will be eligible for the study. They will receive full information, be interviewed about their experiences of the group and complete a demographic questionnaire. Interviews will last up to 90 minutes and they will be asked up to 20 questions. The participants can also choose to be kept informed about emerging themes the researcher finds when analysing the interviews.
The study will take place over a period of 14 months as part of a doctoral thesis and is funded by Royal Holloway University. Interviews will be analysed using grounded theory and the study aims to develop a model of the changes that took place during the group, giving a deeper theoretical understanding. The study will add to existing literature, which may help improve the effectiveness of psychosexual therapy interventions.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EE/0262
Date of REC Opinion
4 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion