The Role of Self-Compassion in Recovery from Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

(1) Background: A large body of empirical evidence has supported the notion that individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) have difficulty regulating their negative emotions and employing emotion-regulation strategies. The aim of this article is to (a) explore the role of self-compassion in providing an emotion-regulation strategy for initiating a process of recovery from SUDs; (b) examine the role of self-compassion in building recovery capital (RC) to promote long-term recovery; and (c) examine the practice of self-compassion in the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) programs. (2) Methods: This narrative review assesses the role of self-compassion in providing an emotion-regulation strategy and in building RC to promote long-term recovery. (3) Results: Empirical evidence has shown self-compassion to be an emotion-regulation strategy in which negative feelings are accepted and held with awareness and kindness, understanding, and a sense of common humanity. Based on the broaden-and-build theory, I posit that self-compassion as a positive emotional stance towards oneself enables the development of personal and social resources. The prospects for successful recovery from SUDs are dependent upon the individual’s resources, which Granfield and Cloud referred to as RC. (4) Conclusions: This article may contribute to the field by presenting the role of self-compassion in building RC to promote long-term recovery from SUDs and by discussing the practice of self-compassion in the AA and NA programs.