Mindful self-compassion for LGBTQIA+ youth

National intervention delivered online

By Professor Ashleigh Lin

With the increase of mental illness in LGBTQIA+ youth, ARH mental health grant recipient Professor Ashleigh Lin studied the effects of the Mindful Self-Compassion program on this group.

The Mindful Self-Compassion program is designed to provide a way to improve how people feel about themselves. The course is an eight-week group program that aims to provide individuals with the skills to be more compassionate and kinder to themselves.

The program can be delivered online through video conferencing to young people in an effective way, which means that in the future it can be offered to people who live in remote or rural areas.

The study found that the online Mindful Self-Compassion program helped the LGBTQIA+ youth to be more self-compassionate compared to the LGBTQIA+ youth who hadn’t completed the program. Results showed the group that completed the program were less stressed, less critical of themselves, felt less inadequate, and were better at managing their emotions compared to the group that hadn’t completed the program.