Impact of a 12-Week Group-Based Compassion Focused Therapy Intervention on Heart Rate Variability

Steffen, Patrick R.; Foxx, Jennifer; Cattani, Kara; Alldredge, Cameron T.; Austin, Tara; Burlingame, Gary M.

doi:10.1007/s10484-020-09487-8

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…As we have come to understand these processes, therapies are now targeting them in a kind of neuropsychophysiotherapy (Gilbert, 2000(Gilbert, , 2009a(Gilbert, , 2010Cozolino, 2017;Fiskum, 2019). For example, compassion training has been shown to produce changes in the autonomic nervous system as measured by heart rate variability (Matos et al, 2017;Di Bello et al, 2020;Kim et al, 2020c;Steffen et al, 2020) in the immune system (Pace et al, 2009) and in various cortical areas (Weng et al, 2013(Weng et al, , 2018Singer and Engert, 2019;Kim et al, 2020b). Useful too are compassion scales developed to measure both positive levels of compassion engagement and action , and fears of compassion (Gilbert et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2020b) are also sensitive to detecting changes in HRV (Di Bello et al, 2020).…”

Section: Priming Social Safenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To explore how compassion fits into psychotherapy, we need to explore briefly the different dimensions of functioning that give rise to mental suffering and how care and compassion motivation reorganizes these processes. It is extremely important that therapists do not see working with compassion as a simple a "add on, " but understand how it is used to change the organization of the processes we are going to discuss; ultimately, we need to be able to have long-term physiological impacts (Cozolino, 2017;Schore, 2019;Steffen et al, 2020) and turn states into traits (Goleman and Davidson, 2017).…”

Section: Mapping the Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The scale measures engagement and action processes with three orientations: for self, from others, and two others. It has now been used in a number of studies and recently predicted changes in HRV following CFT (Steffen et al, 2020). The six competencies for engagement and six for action are only guides and are given in Figure 6.…”

Section: Using the Functions Of The Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Compassion: From Its Evolution to a Psychotherapy

2020

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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.

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Section: Priming Social Safenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mapping the Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Using the Functions Of The Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Compassion: From Its Evolution to a Psychotherapy

2020

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“…Based on such evidence, compassion is expected to be first associated with reduced vmHRV to reflect empathic engagement with suffering, and then by increased vmHRV when the appropriate helpful action is performed. Indeed, in a pilot uncontrolled study, self-compassionate writing has been associated with a significant decrease in vmHRV during the task, and a significant increase in vmHRV during recovery (Steffen et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Indeed, a phasic decrease in vmHRV could be considered as a signature of the empathic engagement with others' suffering and it is the prerequisite to be touched by others' suffering and subsequently act to alleviate it (Miller, 2018;Gilbert, 2019;Steffen et al, 2020). Heart rate (and not vmHRV) has shown to increase more during compassion meditation than during neutral states, and HR increases are correlated with BOLD signal in the right middle insula (Lutz et al, 2008), suggesting that compassion enhances the emotional and somatosensory brain representations of others' emotions, amplifying the saliency of emotional stimuli.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2021

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Recent studies have linked compassion with higher vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), a measure of parasympathetic activity, and meta-analytic evidence confirmed significant and positive associations. Compassion, however, is not to be confused with soothing positive emotions: in order to engage in actions aimed to alleviate (self or others) suffering, the pain should resonate, and empathic sensitivity should be experienced first. The present study examined the association between vmHRV and the empathic sensitivity and action components of trait and state compassion. To do so, several dispositional questionnaires were administered and two videos inducing empathic sensitivity (video 1) and compassionate actions (video 2) were shown, while the ECG was continuously recorded, and momentary affect was assessed. Results showed that (i) scores on subscales assessing the empathic component of trait compassion were inversely related to resting vmHRV; (ii) vmHRV decreased after video 1 but significantly increased after video 2. As to momentary affect, video 1 was accompanied with an increase in sadness and a decrease in positive affect, whereas video 2 was characterized by an increase in anger, a parallel decrease in sadness, and an increase (although non-significant) in positive affect. Overall, present findings support the notion that it is simplistic to link compassion with higher vmHRV. Compassion encompasses increased sensitivity to emotional pain, which is naturally associated with lower vmHRV, and action to alleviate others’ suffering, which is ultimately associated with increased vmHRV. The importance of adopting a nuanced perspective on the complex physiological regulation that underlies compassionate responding to suffering is discussed.

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Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy: Clinical Integration, Evidence Base, and Mechanisms of Change

Germer

2023

Mindfulness in Behavioral Health

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Impact of a 12-Week Group-Based Compassion Focused Therapy Intervention on Heart Rate Variability

Cited by 22 publications

References 45 publications

Compassion: From Its Evolution to a Psychotherapy

Compassion: From Its Evolution to a Psychotherapy

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

Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy: Clinical Integration, Evidence Base, and Mechanisms of Change

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