Empowering the Battered Women: The Effectiveness of a Self-Compassion Program

Abstract

Self-compassion represents an attitude that has the strength of fostering positive emotions toward oneself while simultaneously maintaining a sense of connectedness with others. Empirical work so far has provided evidence that self-compassion contributes to well-being, happiness and life satisfaction. Domestic violence may be defined as willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior—as part of a systematic pattern of power and control—perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. Domestic violence survivors often feel shame, and blame themselves for being battered. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a self-compassion program in increasing self-compassion and fostering psychological well-being of abused women. A sample of 21 women completed five self-report questionnaires (Self-Compassion Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Resilience Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale) one week prior, one week following and six months after the completion of the six-week intervention program. The results indicated significant increases in self-compassion, positive affect, resilience and subjective happiness as well as decreases in negative affect depression, anxiety and stress. These findings might assist researchers and clinicians to develop future interventions in order to cultivate kind and encouraging attitudes in suffering individuals.