Compassion Meditation for Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): a Nonrandomized Study

Abstract

Compassion meditation (CM) is a contemplative practice that is intended to cultivate the ability to extend and sustain compassion toward self and others. Although research documents the benefits of CM in healthy populations, its use in the context of psychopathology is largely unexamined. The purpose of this study was to refine and initially evaluate a CM protocol, Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT®), for use with Veterans with PTSD. To this end, our research team developed and refined a manualized protocol, CBCT-Vet, over 4 sets of groups involving 36 Veterans. This protocol was delivered in 8-10 sessions, each lasting 90-120 min and led by a CBCT®-trained clinical psychologist. Quantitative and qualitative data were used to identify areas to be improved and to assess change that occurred during the treatment period. Based on pooled data from this series of groups, CM appears to be acceptable to Veterans with PTSD. Group participation was associated with reduced symptoms of PTSD (partial eta squared = .27) and depression (partial eta squared = .19), but causality should not be inferred given the nonrandomized design. No change was observed in additional outcomes, including positive emotion and social connectedness. The results of this open trial support additional exploration of CM as part of the recovery process for Veterans with PTSD.

Compassion Meditation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: A Randomized Proof of Concept Study

“…The small open trial by Lang et al. (), however, did not show change in social connectedness associated with the CM practice.…”

“…In contrast, however, a recent open trial of CM with a sample of 36 veterans with PTSD by Lang et al. () failed to show a change in positive emotion; however, a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms was observed.…”

“…The compassion meditation protocol was an adaptation of Cognitively‐Based Compassion Training (CBCT; Negi, ), which we previously refined for use with veterans (CBCT‐Vet; Lang et al., ). Our enhancements of the original protocol included increasing the material's relevance to military‐ and veteran‐related experiences, addressing common pitfalls experienced by individuals with psychopathology (e.g., difficulty focusing, uprising of emotions), and providing education about compassion and PTSD.…”

“…Next, contemplative practices are introduced to increase well‐being and foster compassion toward self (Session 5) and others (Sessions 6–8). Finally, there is a review of the total practice, and “coping cards” are developed to facilitate applying meditation daily (Sessions 9–10; for a detailed description of the intervention, refer to Lang et al., ). The group sessions were led by a licensed clinical psychologist (PC), who was trained through the CBCT teacher certification program.…”

“…Given this theoretical rationale and the observed large effect size change in PTSD symptoms that has been shown in uncontrolled trials (Kearney et al., ; Lang et al., ), these types of meditation merit further exploration as interventions for PTSD. The project presented herein took an important next step, namely preparing for randomized evaluation of CM.…”