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Crego, Antonio, José Ramón Yela, Aitor Vicente-Arruebarrena, Pablo Riesco-Matías, y María-Ángeles Gómez-Martínez. «The Benefits of Self-Compassion in Mental Health Professionals: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research». Psychology Research and Behavior Management. Dove Medical Press Ltd, 2022. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S359382.
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The importance of cultivating self-compassion is an often neglected issue among mental health professionals despite the risks
to occupational well-being present in psychological care, such as burnout or compassion fatigue. In this context, this literature review has
a twofold aim. Firstly, to contribute to raising awareness of the benefits of self-compassion among professionals, based on empirical
research findings. Secondly, to coherently organize the available evidence on this topic, which to date appears scattered in a variety of
articles. A systematic search on the APA PsycInfo database was conducted, and 24 empirical studies focused on the topic of the benefits
of self-compassion in mental health professionals were finally selected. Concerning their methods, only 4 of the selected studies used
experimental or quasi-experimental designs, 14 were cross-sectional studies, 3 presented qualitative research, and 3 were literature
reviews. The research, regardless of methods used, points mainly to the benefits of self-compassion on the therapists’ mental health and
well-being; prevention of occupational stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatization as well as improvement of
therapeutic competencies and professional efficacy-related aspects. In the review, self-compassion appeared as a process that could
explain the benefits (eg on burnout) of cultivating other skills (eg mindfulness). To further explore this point, an additional review
included 17 studies focused on the effects of mindfulness or compassion-based interventions on therapists’ self-compassion. In
conclusion, our work joins those who have recommended the inclusion of self-compassion trainings in the curricula of mental health
professionals
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