The Attachment-Based Compassion Therapy: A Manual for Self-Application

This book is a manual for self-application of the Attachment-Based Compassion Therapy (ABCT) protocol, that can be either self-applied by any individual in a psychoeducational context or as a support for a therapeutic process guided by a professional. Compassion therapy is a third-generation psychotherapy that has been used in association with mindfulness in recent years. In particular, attachment-based compassion therapy (ABCT) is a protocol that can be used in both the general and psychiatric population with the aim of promoting compassion and self-compassion.

ABCT is based on attachment theory and, therefore, includes practices to raise awareness and/or address maladaptive aspects, where appropriate, of the attachment styles developed with parents. This process is taught as a form of both compassion and self-compassion in order to improve present-day interpersonal relationships and well-being in general. In the face-to-face group format, ABCT has been demonstrating efficacy and applicability for healthy people and for the treatment of fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety and adjustment disorders. This book presents a self-applied version of ABCT that operates along the lines of the original model and has been adapted and developed to be fully self-applied via the Internet in 8 sequential modules:

• Introduction to attachment-based compassion therapy
• Preparing ourselves for compassion: kind attention
• Discovering our compassionate world
• Developing our compassionate world
• Understanding our relationship with compassion
• Working on ourselves
• Understanding the importance of forgiveness
• Consolidating the practice of compassion

The content is presented through texts, pictures, tables and figures, including links to downloadable audio files for formal meditation practices with specific guides and instruction for each meditation. The transcripts to each guided meditation are also included as appendices.

Javier García-Campayo practices psychiatry at Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, in Zaragoza, Spain. He is a tenured lecturer at the University of Zaragoza School of Medicine and director of the master’s degree programme in Mindfulness at the same institution. Dr Campayo graduated in medicine and obtained his PhD in psychiatry from the University of Zaragoza, and undertook post-doctoral studies at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where he worked with Dr Lawrence Kirmayerin the field of transcultural psychiatry. He is a former president of the Spanish Society of Psychosomatic Medicine.

Daniel Campos holds the position of assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Sociology (Sub-Department of Developmental Psychology and Education) at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, and is a member of the master’s degree programme in Mindfulness at the same institution. Dr Campos graduated in psychology and obtained his PhD and master’s degree in psychopathology, health and neuropsychology from the Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain) and was awarded a post-doctoral grant to develop the project entitled Compassion Therapy for Well-being: Development of an Online Intervention. He has worked on several projects financed by local, national, and international research grants focusing on the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs), mindfulness, and compassion-based Interventions.

Paola Herrera-Mercadal is an assistant professor at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, in the Department of Psychology and Sociology (Sub-Department of Developmental Psychology and Education) and a member of the master’s degree programme in Mindfulness at the same institution. Dr Herrera-Mercadal graduated in psychology from the National University of Distance Education (UNED) of Spain and obtained both a master’s degree in Introduction to Medical Research and her PhD in medicine from the Universidad of Zaragoza. She has worked on several projects financed by local, national, and international research grants focusing on the application of ICTs, mindfulness, and compassion-based interventions.

Mayte Navarro-Gil graduated in psychology from the National University of Distance Education (UNED) of Spain. She obtained her PhD in medicine specializing in mindfulness and compassion. She has published different articles on this topic and is a mindfulness instructor with extensive experience in teaching, clinical application and research in this technique. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Psychology and Sociology at the University of Zaragoza, and teaches part of the programme for the master’s degree in Mindfulness at the same institution.

Kathryn Ziemer is a licensed psychologist and the Clinical Director at Old Town Psychology, a psychology practice that provides evidence-based therapy and conducts applied research. She received her PhD from the University of Maryland and completed her internship at the DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She has conducted research at the US National Institute of Mental Health, the Social and Decision Analytics Lab at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the market research company Ipsos Public Affairs. Her research interests include attachment, self-compassion, meaning in life, brief psychological interventions, intersection of technology and mental health, and the promotion of positive psychology. She has over ten years’ experience providing psychological services, including evidence-based therapy, to clients experiencing depression, anxiety, chronic health conditions, infertility, relationship issues and life transitions. She has previously provided psychological services at the University of Maryland Counseling Center and the George Mason University Cognitive Assessment Program.

Beatriz Palma is a licensed psychologist and group coordinator at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at the University of Virginia (UVA) – Charlottesville. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and Psychologist Professional Degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. After working as a clinical psychologist in Chile for five years, she moved to the US and earned a MEd from Penn State and a MS and PhD from the University of Maryland - College Park. Her research interests include attachment, self-compassion, the person of the therapist, the therapeutic relationship, psychotherapy process and outcome, supervision and training, and group therapy. In the US, she has provided psychological services in several university settings, including the Counseling Center at the University of Missouri - Columbia, where she completed a Post Internship/Postdoctoral Psychology Residency. She also provided long-term, psychodynamic oriented individual therapy to adults in the community at the Maryland Psychotherapy Clinic and Research Lab (MPCRL). Her areas of clinical specialty include trauma, family of origin issues, multicultural and intercultural issues, identities and intersectionality, and group therapy. She also served as the Early Career Psychologist - Domain Representative from the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy from the American Psychological Association (APA) from 2020 to 2022.

Sheeva Mostoufi is a licensed clinical psychologist and Training Coordinator at Old Town Psychology, a psychology practice that provides evidence-based psychotherapy. She received her PhD from the San Diego State University/University of California, USA, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program and completed her internship at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System-Seattle Division. She also completed post-doctoral fellowship training at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System-Seattle Division specializing in primary care mental health integration. She has conducted research on grant funded research studies with the US Veteran Affairs Health Care System and with the community-based University of Washington Twin Registry. She has a background in clinical research with multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals. Her research interests include self-compassion, mindfulness-based interventions, culturally sensitive delivery of evidence-based treatments and mechanisms of change in clinical interventions. She specializes in treating clients presenting with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, body-focused repetitive behaviours (e.g. trichotillomania, excoriation/skin picking), depression, life transitions, and coping with chronic medical concerns. She has experience providing evidence-based psychotherapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Exposure and Response Prevention to clients in a variety of settings, including private practice, as a clinician on grant funded research studies with the Veteran Affairs Health Care System, and in interdisciplinary hospital and medical settings.

Roberto Aristegui is a clinical psychologist specializing in psychotherapy. He is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and mental health at the University of Chile, where he co-directs a diploma in mindfulness and relational skills. As an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Psychology of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, he is the director of the master's degree in Relational Mindfulness and Compassion at that institution. He has a degree in Psychology from the Catholic University of Chile and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Chile. He has participated in projects funded by local, national and international research grants and currently in the relational approach. He has a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from Tilburg University, the Netherlands, where he worked with Kenneth Gergen on social constructionism, promoting the Relational Mindfulness perspective.