Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples

James Bennett-Levy; Natalie Roxburgh; Lia Hibner; Sunita Bala; Stacey Edwards; Kate Lucre; Georgina Cohen; Dwayne O’Connor; Sharmaine Keogh; Paul Gilbert

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568561

Back

Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples

James Bennett-Levy, Natalie Roxburgh, Lia Hibner, Sunita Bala, Stacey Edwards, Kate Lucre, Georgina Cohen, Dwayne O’Connor, Sharmaine Keogh and Paul Gilbert

Frontiers in psychology, Vol.11, 568561

16/12/2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568561

PMCID: PMC7772135

PMID: 33391084

Files and links (2)

pdf

Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples1.95 MBDownload View

Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access

url

Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous PeoplesView

Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open

Metrics

8 Record Views

1 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites

Abstract

compassion focused therapy

Indigenous

Aboriginal

art

self-compassion

compassion

group-based treatment

The last 20 years have seen the development of a new form of therapy, compassion focused therapy (CFT). Although CFT has a growing evidence base, there have been few studies of CFT outside of an Anglo-European cultural context. In this paper, we ask: Might a CFT-based approach be of value for Indigenous Australians? If so, what kind of cultural adaptations might be needed? We report the findings from a pilot study of an arts-based compassion skills training (ABCST) group, in which usual CFT group processes were significantly adapted to meet the needs of Indigenous Australians. At face value, CFT appeared to be a promising approach to enhancing the social and emotional wellbeing of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. However, despite initial consultations with Indigenous health professionals, the first attempts to offer a more conventional group-based CFT to Indigenous clients were largely unsuccessful. Following a review and advice from two Indigenous clients, we combined elements of CFT with visual arts to develop a new approach, “arts-based compassion skills training” (ABCST). This paper reports an evaluation of this pilot ABCST group. The group had 6 × 4 h sessions of ABCST, facilitated by two psychologists (1 Indigenous, 1 non-Indigenous) and two artists (1 Indigenous, 1 non-Indigenous). There were 10 participants, who attended between 2 and 6 sessions: five were clients, five were health professionals. Between 1 and 3 months later, six of the participants (2 clients, 4 health professionals) were interviewed. Qualitative analysis of interview data identified that two key processes—creating a positive group atmosphere and channeling compassion skills training through the medium of visual arts—led to four positive outcomes for participants: planting the seeds of new understandings, embodying the skills of compassion, strengthening relationships with others, and evolving a more self-compassionate relationship. We suggest that the preliminary results are sufficiently encouraging to warrant further development of ABCST in Indigenous communities.

Details

Title: Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples
Creators: James Bennett-Levy - University of Sydney
Natalie Roxburgh - University of Sydney
Lia Hibner - University of Sydney
Sunita Bala - RealArtWorks (Lismore, Australia)
Stacey Edwards - Charles Sturt University
Kate Lucre - Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Georgina Cohen - Rekindling the Spirit (Lismore, Australia)
Dwayne O’Connor - Rekindling the Spirit (Lismore, Australia)
Sharmaine Keogh - Rekindling the Spirit (Lismore, Australia)
Paul Gilbert - University of Derby
Publication Details: Frontiers in psychology, Vol.11, 568561
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A
Identifiers: 991013173910202368
Copyright: © 2020 Bennett-Levy, Roxburgh, Hibner, Bala, Edwards, Lucre, Cohen, O’Connor, Keogh and Gilbert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
Academic Unit: Faculty of Health
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

Arts-Based Compassion Skills Training (ABCST): Channelling Compassion Focused Therapy Through Visual Arts for Australia’s Indigenous Peoples

Files and links (2)

Metrics

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Abstract

Details

Southern Cross University Social media