Compassion: From Its Evolution to a Psychotherapy

Abstract

The concept, benefits and recommendations for the cultivation of compassion have been recognized in the contemplative traditions for thousands of years. In the last 30 years or so, the study of compassion has revealed it to have major physiological and psychological effects influencing well-being, addressing mental health difficulties, and promoting prosocial behavior. This paper outlines an evolution informed biopsychosocial, multicomponent model to caring behavior and its derivative “compassion” that underpins newer approaches to psychotherapy. The paper explores the origins of caring motives and the nature and biopsychosocial functions of caring-attachment behavior. These include providing a secure base (sources of protection, validation, encouragement and guidance) and safe haven (source of soothing and comfort) for offspring along with physiological regulating functions, which are also central for compassion focused therapy. Second, it suggests that it is the way recent human cognitive competencies give rise to different types of “mind awareness” and “knowing intentionality” that transform basic caring motives into potentials for compassion. While we can care for our gardens and treasured objects, the concept of compassion is only used for sentient beings who can “suffer.” As psychotherapy addresses mental suffering, cultivating the motives and competencies of compassion to self and others can be a central focus for psychotherapy.

Compassion Is Not a Benzo: Distinctive Associations of Heart Rate Variability With Its Empathic and Action Components

“…AFFECT (angry, self-critical; Table 1) exhibited good fit. Coherently with modification indices, and according to the theoretical framework behind the present study (Gilbert, 2020), we have opted for a Model including the following three factors: (a) POSITIVE AFFECT (happy, calm, strong, content, relieved); (b) low arousal NEGATIVE AFFECT (sad, weak); (c) high arousal NEGATIVE AFFECT (angry, selfcritical, anxious).…”

“…This finding is not completely unexpected. Indeed, most of the studies that investigated the connection between compassion and vmHRV, used different measurement tools, which reflect different definitions of compassion and do not take into account the subdivision of engagement and action as fundamental components of compassion motivation (Gilbert, 2020). In line with our view that distress sensitivity and awareness involve specific physiological competencies for enabling emotional resonance to emotional pain, HF-HRV showed distinct negative associations with the element of empathic sensitivity (engagement) for both self-and other-oriented compassion.…”

“…In a compassionate approach, this may facilitate emotional pain awareness, and subsequent decisions for helpful actions. Thereby, the individual is able to learn that negative information does not always translate into an aversive outcome (Borkovec et al, 2004), when the compassionate motivation is active (Gilbert, 2020).…”

“…Present data highlight that the engagement in compassion enables an appropriate autonomic response after seeing compassionate actions, indicative of how efficiently selfregulatory resources have been mobilized and used to overcome the emotional challenge and then return to resting level (Laborde et al, 2018). This quick return to parasympathetic response, called "vagal rebound" (Nederend et al, 2016), is crucial for therapy because, across time, it promotes an expansion of personal potential to self-regulate and react effectively, loosening resistances and blocks that in turn induce helplessness or shutdown states (Gilbert, 2020).…”

“…Previous studies, however, ignored a crucial ingredient of compassion, that is whether the ability to pay sensitive attention to suffering and effectively engage with it is accompanied by the intention and capacity to start the response process (an appropriate action) to alleviate the suffering (Gilbert, 2017b;Kirby et al, 2019;Gilbert, 2020). If both these components are taken into account, a non-linear association between compassion and vmHRV is expected (Miller, 2018).…”