ABSTRACT Background Psychological distress associated with unresolved event memories is a primary motivator for seeking professional counselling and psychotherapy. Instinctive efforts to cope with such memories can perpetuate maladaptive rumination and negative self‐appraisals, particularly when events are central to identity. These posttraumatic cognitions can contribute to the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms. It is therefore important to identify accessible interventions to support adaptive resolution. Although self‐compassion has been linked to health and well‐being, its application to unresolved event memories has never been explored. Objective This study experimentally investigated the effects of a tailored self‐compassion writing exercise on posttraumatic cognitions related to unresolved events, with particular attention to the moderating role of event centrality to identity. Method Eighty‐eight undergraduate participants identified an unresolved event and rated its centrality to their identity and life story. Participants were randomly assigned to complete either a tailored self‐compassion writing task or a descriptive control task. All participants completed measures of posttraumatic cognitions, posttraumatic growth and psychological closure. Results For events rated as highly central to identity, the self‐compassion condition reported significantly lower posttraumatic cognitions relative to the control condition. No significant differences were observed for events low in centrality. High (vs. low) centrality events were also rated significantly higher on posttraumatic growth and lower on closure. Conclusion Findings offer preliminary support for the effectiveness of a brief self‐compassion writing intervention for highly central unresolved events. We discuss implications, future directions and applications for counselling and psychotherapy contexts.
Robinson et al. (Thu,) studied this question.