Previous research has suggested that Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is beneficial for individuals suffering from a variety of mental health concerns including depression, shame, and self-criticism. The present study assessed the effects of a 10-week university Introduction to CFT course that includes a group orientation to CFT including exposure to CFT intervention exercises. It was hypothesized that those receiving the CFT course would show reductions in shame, self-criticism, and fears of compassion, and increases in gratitude, positive affect, and self-compassion relative to controls. While some differences were observed between the CFT and control groups, none of the hypothesized group X time interactions achieved statistical significance. These results suggest that a course-style CFT intervention is not sufficient for producing measureable clinical change in participants.
","abstract_html":"<p>Previous research has suggested that Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is beneficial for individuals suffering from a variety of mental health concerns including depression, shame, and self-criticism. The present study assessed the effects of a 10-week university Introduction to CFT course that includes a group orientation to CFT including exposure to CFT intervention exercises. It was hypothesized that those receiving the CFT course would show reductions in shame, self-criticism, and fears of compassion, and increases in gratitude, positive affect, and self-compassion relative to controls. While some differences were observed between the CFT and control groups, none of the hypothesized group X time interactions achieved statistical significance. These results suggest that a course-style CFT intervention is not sufficient for producing measureable clinical change in participants.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kunemund, Adrian"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Russell Kolts","Amani El-Alayli","Alan Coelho"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:16Z","subjects":["Psychiatry and Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/227","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Russell Kolts","Amani El-Alayli","Alan Coelho"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kunemund, Adrian"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Psychiatry and Psychology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Access is available to all users"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/227"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Previous research has suggested that Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is beneficial for individuals suffering from a variety of mental health concerns including depression, shame, and self-criticism. The present study assessed the effects of a 10-week university Introduction to CFT course that includes a group orientation to CFT including exposure to CFT intervention exercises. It was hypothesized that those receiving the CFT course would show reductions in shame, self-criticism, and fears of compassion, and increases in gratitude, positive affect, and self-compassion relative to controls. While some differences were observed between the CFT and control groups, none of the hypothesized group X time interactions achieved statistical significance. These results suggest that a course-style CFT intervention is not sufficient for producing measureable clinical change in participants.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Effects of a Compassion Focused Intervention on a Non-Clinical Student Population"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Russell Kolts","Amani El-Alayli","Alan Coelho"],"dc:creator":["Kunemund, Adrian"],"dc:description.abstract":["Previous research has suggested that Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is beneficial for individuals suffering from a variety of mental health concerns including depression, shame, and self-criticism. The present study assessed the effects of a 10-week university Introduction to CFT course that includes a group orientation to CFT including exposure to CFT intervention exercises. It was hypothesized that those receiving the CFT course would show reductions in shame, self-criticism, and fears of compassion, and increases in gratitude, positive affect, and self-compassion relative to controls. While some differences were observed between the CFT and control groups, none of the hypothesized group X time interactions achieved statistical significance. These results suggest that a course-style CFT intervention is not sufficient for producing measureable clinical change in participants.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/227"],"dc:rights":["Access is available to all users"],"dc:subject":["Psychiatry and Psychology"],"dc:title":["The Effects of a Compassion Focused Intervention on a Non-Clinical Student Population"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS) in Psychology: Clinical"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:16Z"}