A brief compassion focused therapy group for outpatients with psychosis

Background: A service evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of a six-session compassion focused therapy (CFT) group for outpatients with psychosis was conducted. Methods: Fourteen groups were run across two services, with different facilitators following the same protocol. One hundred and nine clients were recruited, of whom 80 completed groups, and 71–76 completed measures of key social processes targeted by CFT. Results: Overall attendance and satisfaction ratings were good. A thematic analysis of feedback suggested a range of therapeutic benefits. A mixed-effects model with maximum likelihood estimation, incorporating random effects at two hierarchical levels, showed significant improvements in pre-post measures of social safeness (p <.001, effect size.53) and self-compassion (p =.002, effect size.50), but changes in perceived social rank were only at trend level (p =.087, effect size.21). Discussion: These findings indicate that CFT groups are feasible and acceptable for outpatients with psychosis, and that it is possible to effectively target, in six-weeks, some of the key processes central to CFT. The next step will be to replicate these findings using a more robust methodology, and further research is needed to determine the impact of CFT groups on other outcomes (e.g. distress, well-being, symptoms, and valued goals) and whether impact is maintained over time.