Increasing Self-Compassion: Review of the Literature and Recommendations.

Abstract

Depression is a common symptom among college students and is often accompanied by negative thoughts about oneself. Self-compassion is a technique students can use to combat those negative thoughts. Self-compassion is an emotion-regulation strategy in which the individual engages in self-kindness, particularly after a mistake, failure, and/or rejection. This paper reviews the concept of self-compassion, assessment of self-compassion, and interventions that have been shown to increase self-compassion. Self-compassion is associated with lower levels of psychopathology and higher levels of well-being. It is theorized to work by buffering against a self-critical ruminative process after a mistake, failure, and/or rejection. Self-compassion is most commonly assessed through a validated scale that measures overall self-compassion and its six subscales: self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification. Multiple self-compassion interventions have been shown to increase self-compassion and improve psychological health. These interventions are varied and contain strategies such as mindfulness meditation, loving kindness meditation, and changing self-talk. Details of those interventions and practical strategies that individuals, students, and professors can use to increase self-compassion are described. Overall, self-compassion is a valuable tool that can help individuals cope with mistakes, failure, and/or rejection.