Increasing self-compassion in helping professionals with virtual reality
Hi all,
We are a group of Trainee Clinical Psychologists from University College London (UCL) conducting our doctoral research into self-compassion in the helping professions. We are testing an established Virtual Reality intervention aimed to increase self-compassion in people who experience high levels of self-criticism. From research and our own experiences, we know how demanding it can be to train or work in the helping professions and that the pressures faced across health and social care and the education sector often make it difficult to practise self-compassion. We are interested in whether our intervention can improve helping professionals’ levels of self-compassion, experience of common mental health difficulties, and burnout in the workplace, as has previously been shown for other populations and with related interventions.
The study is available to any adults currently training or working in a helping profession (i.e. a client-facing helping role), across the statutory, private or third sector. We ask that interested people live near to London or within travelling distance, since the study will involve visiting us on-site for up to 90-minutes. We will offer a range of dates/times to try our best to accommodate people’s availability.
Professions could include care work, social work, nursing, medicine, therapies, psychology, teaching, and emergency services, to name but a few.
✍ To sign-up to the study: https://tinyurl.com/helpingVR
✉ For any queries or PDF copies of the poster: helpingVRstudy@ucl.ac.uk
We are currently collecting expressions of interest and aim to recruit soon, for the study to begin in late Summer-Autumn 2024. Eligible participants will be compensated £10 for their time and there will be opportunity to earn more by participating in an interview.
Please see study poster here.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind regards,
Kaan Gulum
Trainee Clinical Psychologist
The Helping VR Study Team
University College London
Email: helpingVRstudy@ucl.ac.uk