Compassion-Focused Therapy for Perinatal Mental Health Difficulties
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The acceptability and feasibility of compassion-focused therapy groups for women with perinatal mental health difficulties
IRAS ID
294013
Contact name
Anja Wittkowski
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 24 days
Research summary
The perinatal period (around pregnancy and childbirth) is a time of increased risk of mental health problems for women with up to 20% of women experiencing some form of mental health problem. Psychological therapies are recognised in treatment guidelines as playing an important part in the treatment of perinatal mental health problems and are often preferred by women to drug treatments. However, there is a need for further research evaluating psychological interventions for women with perinatal mental health problems, particularly for those whose problems are more severe and/or complex.
This study will use qualitative and quantitative methods to explore service user experiences of a tailored group intervention based on a psychotherapeutic approach called Compassion-Focussed Therapy (CFT) being delivered by specialist perinatal mental health teams in Greater Manchester. Women who have completed the groups will be invited to complete a semi-structured interview lasting approximately 60 minutes. In this interview they will be asked about their experience of the intervention, factors that enabled or hampered their participation, what they found helpful/ unhelpful, and any benefits they perceived from taking part. Participants will also complete a short demographic questionnaire and a client-satisfaction questionnaire. A topic guide will be used to guide the interviews. The interviews will be recorded and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.Data routinely collected by services (e.g. on group attendance, routinely collected outcomes data) will also be gathered and analysed. Together with the qualitative data, this will help us to build a picture of how acceptable the intervention is for women, how feasible it is to deliver for services, and the ways in which any positive changes resulting from the intervention may come about.
Findings will be shared with health professionals and services to help improve the intervention and its delivery, to maximise its accessibility and, hopefully, its effectiveness.
REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
21/WA/0401
Date of REC Opinion
24 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion