Group Compassion-Based Therapy for Female Survivors of Intimate-Partner Violence and Gender-Based Violence: a Pilot Study

Emotional disorders are common in survivors of gender-based violence, especially intimate partner violence (IPV), and are often maintained by shame and self-criticism. Compassion-based therapies target shame and self-criticism but have not been evaluated in this population to date, nor in any low- o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Naismith, Iona (Author)
Contributors: Ripoll, Karen ; Pardo, Valeria M.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: Journal of family violence
Year: 2021, Volume: 36, Issue: 2, Pages: 175-182
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Latin America
Shame
Compassion
Self-compassion
Self-criticism
intimate partner abuse
Description
Summary:Emotional disorders are common in survivors of gender-based violence, especially intimate partner violence (IPV), and are often maintained by shame and self-criticism. Compassion-based therapies target shame and self-criticism but have not been evaluated in this population to date, nor in any low- or middle-income country. Ten Colombian females reporting recent gender-based violence and clinical levels of emotional disorder(s) completed a 5-session group compassion-based therapy intervention. Measures of symptoms and hypothesized mediators were applied 5 weeks before treatment (baseline), pre-treatment, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up. At follow-up, 56 to 89% of cases showed reliable symptom change (depending on the measure). Self-inadequacy, guilt cognitions and experiential avoidance may be important mediators of change. Findings indicate that compassion-based interventions may benefit this population, even for women remaining in relationships with IPV, those with low formal education, and in contexts where gender-based violence is a social norm.
ISSN:1573-2851
DOI:10.1007/s10896-019-00127-2