The Therapeutic Effect of Expressive Writing in People Living With and Beyond Cancer.

Background:

Body-Compassion

A particular focus of this research is to further contribute towards an understanding of body-compassion. While many studies have explored the concepts of body image and self-compassion with people who have a cancer diagnosis, there is limited research exploring the concept of body compassion with this population. As a construct that has only recently been formally defined, body compassion reflects the aspects of kindness, human connectedness, and mindfulness toward the body. Self-compassion is seen to promote body compassion, which, in turn, acts as a buffer against distressing events that threaten one's body image. The growing interest in this concept has led to the development and validation of body compassion measures. The 'Body Compassion Scale' developed by pioneered the development of a measure of body compassion. This scale was followed by the development and validation of 'The Body Compassion Questionnaire'. The concept of compassion directed towards the body seems highly salient for people with cancer. It would be worth building on current evidence about the role of body compassion in cancer by utilising body-compassion measures to further understand this construct and the experience of having cancer-related body change.

Compassion-based interventions

Over the past two decades, there has been a growing interest in developing evidence-based interventions to support people individually and in groups to foster a sense of compassion (Kirby & Gilbert, 2017). Compassion-focused Therapy (CFT), developed by Gilbert (2014), and Mindful Self-Compassion by Neff and Germer (2013), are two approaches that apply the importance of facing one's suffering with the motivation to take action to reduce this suffering through self-soothing techniques. These psychological approaches include interventions to support the development of the compassionate self through imagery, breathing exercises, mindfulness, and letter writing. A compassion-focused model applies a compassionate approach to regular psychotherapy, allowing the relatively unrestricted incorporation of compassion-based interventions in clinical practice (Kirby, 2017). Group interventions have built on the CFT framework to reduce self-criticism and foster self-compassion (Kirby et al., 2017). A number of randomised control trial (RCT) studies involving such interventions indicate clinical improvements and a sustained increase in self-compassion (Arimitsu, 2016; Braehler et al., 2013). RCT studies with cancer patients have also yielded promising evidence related to mindfulness and compassion-focused interventions within a clinical setting (O'Gara et al., 2022; Tan et al., 2023)