Self-Compassion and Psychological Flexibility in Chronic Pain
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do self-compassion and psychological flexibility mediate change in a Compassion-Focused Therapy group for chronic pain?
IRAS ID
234604
Contact name
Su Tin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
Chronic pain is pain that lasts longer than 3 months. Pain Management Programmes are a recommended group intervention for chronic pain, involving different professionals using physical exercise, education and psychological therapies. These multidisciplinary teams aim to help people manage the negative experiences associated with living with chronic pain; the aim is not to get rid of the pain. Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) is a type of psychological intervention that helps people to view themselves in a kinder, less critical way (self-compassion). Currently, no research is available on the effectiveness of CFT in chronic pain. Research, however, does exist to show that there are elements of other evidence-based treatments that overlap with elements of CFT. One example of this overlap is psychological flexibility, the ability to recognise and adapt to life circumstances by pursuing long-term life values (e.g. being a supportive parent) instead of short-lived ones (e.g. avoiding pain). This study aims to investigate self-compassion and psychological flexibility as possible tools in the effectiveness of CFT on people with chronic pain.
This study will recruit outpatients in NHS Lothian who are starting an 11-week CFT-incorporated pain management programme. These outpatients will have been assessed by a member of the clinical team upon referral to the Chronic Pain Service and will have attended an introductory session prior to starting the group. There will be no need to advertise the study outwith normal clinical operations because staff will offer all group participants the opportunity to participate in the research.
Participants will complete questionnaires about their pain, psychological functioning, wellbeing, self-compassion and psychological flexibility at the start (week 1), mid-point (week 5), and end (week 11) of the group. The only difference between participation and non-participation is the extra questionnaires completed in the middle of the group (week 5). The service routinely collects outcomes at the start/end.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EM/0465
Date of REC Opinion
14 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion