17 Jul 2024

Researchers to share self-compassion study findings

Veterinary professionals can learn more about ways of improving their resilience during a forthcoming Mind Matters webinar.

author_img

Allister Webb

Job Title



Researchers to share self-compassion study findings

Veterinary professionals are being invited to sign up for a free webinar exploring “vital” new research into ways of improving self-compassion within the sector.

The session, hosted through the RCVS Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) on 3 September, will outline a study that indicates a significant benefit from use of an online compassion focused therapy (CFT) intervention.

The webinar will be led by clinical psychologist and former MMI grant recipient Katherine Wakelin alongside trainee clinical psychologist Sarah Corthorne.

Self-compassion

Dr Wakelin said a randomised control trial of the CFT programme had indicated both significant improvement in resilience and self-compassion, as well as reduced self-criticism.

The course is set to be made available to professionals through the MMI website and the RCVS YouTube channel.

Dr Wakelin added: “Sarah and I are delighted to now be disseminating the CFT course freely to the veterinary professions, so that as many people are able to benefit from the evidence-based resource as possible.

“Even though our research was conducted on veterinary surgeons, we hope that the course will be useful to all those working in the veterinary team as the content can be applied in a number of contexts.”

‘Vital importance’

Mind Matters project lead Rapinder Newton said: “We are really looking forward to running this webinar alongside Katherine and Sarah.

“Their research into the effectiveness of CFT in veterinary professionals has been of vital importance and we hope it will go on to help lots of people.

“We would like to thank Katherine and Sarah for all their hard work and dedication, and for their generosity in allowing us to platform their CFT course for free on our website.”

To access the course, professionals are being invited to complete a short questionnaire before and after watching one 10 to 15-minute video – which aims to develop compassion skills – every day for 14 days.

Places at the webinar can be booked via the MMI events web page.