Sarah Corthorne

Veterinarians report high levels of psychological distress and self-criticism. Evidence suggests that compassion-focused therapy is effective at reducing distress in those with high self-criticism. Therefore, Wakelin et al.’s (2022) feasibility study investigated the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a two-week online compassion focused therapy intervention using a sample of 128 veterinarians. Content analysis of the qualitative data found the intervention to be acceptable and beneficial to participants. Perfectionism, work-related rumination and self-criticism were significantly reduced post-intervention, and these effects were maintained at follow-up. Following the successful feasibility research, a randomised control trial was delivered to investigate the effectiveness of a modified version of the intervention, relative to a wait-list control, using a sample of 162 veterinarians (Corthorne, 2024). The intervention significantly improved a range of outcomes including resilience, self-reassurance, self-compassion, two dimensions of work-related rumination and one component of self-criticism, relative to the control. These findings were largely sustained at follow-up and were associated with small-to-medium and medium-to-large effect sizes. Overall, the research provides a strong rationale for developing and delivering compassion-based interventions to veterinarians in the workplace and in training. Therefore, the fourteen videos making up the two-week, evidence-based intervention from the research are freely accessible through the University of Surrey repository for veterinarians wanting to improve their psychological wellbeing. Each video is around 10-15minutes in length and designed to be watched in order over a two-week period. The videos teach psychoeducation and compassion focused skills and imagery exercises.