Nurturing Compassionate Self-Care: Integrating Self-Compassion Practices into Social Work Education

Background and Purpose: Social work education is demanding, often leading to high levels of stress and burnout among students. Self-compassion has emerged as a potential intervention to address these challenges. This systematic review aims to examine the effectiveness of self-compassion training in reducing stress and burnout among social work students. The study objectives include exploring the impact of self-compassion training on stress and burnout, identifying the components of effective self-compassion interventions, and assessing the quality of evidence supporting these interventions.

Methods: A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to identify studies published between 2010 and 2023 that examined the impact of self-compassion training on stress and burnout among social work students. Studies were included if they used a self-compassion intervention, included social work students as participants, and measured outcomes related to stress and burnout. Three reviewers performed Data extraction independently, and methodological quality was assessed using established criteria. A meta-analysis was planned, but a qualitative synthesis was conducted instead due to heterogeneity among the included studies.

Results: The majority of studies used a randomized controlled trial design and reported the positive effects of self-compassion training on reducing stress and burnout among social work students. Common components of effective self-compassion interventions included psychoeducation about self-compassion, guided mediation practices, and group discussions. The qualitative synthesis revealed a medium effect size for self-compassion interventions in reducing stress and burnout among social work students.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings of this review suggest that self-compassion training can be an effective intervention for reducing stress and burnout among social work students. Integrating self-compassion training into social work education programs could help students develop the skills necessary to cope with the demands of the profession and improve their overall well-being. This review has implications for practice by highlighting the importance of self-compassion in social work education and providing guidance on effective self-compassion interventions. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of self-compassion training and to identify the most effective components of self-compassion interventions for social work students.