Pathways by Which Self-Compassion Improves Positive Body Image: A Qualitative Analysis.

The current study applied consensual qualitative research-modified to essays written by 51 college women completing an expressive writing intervention over three time points for a total of 153 essays to identify how increases in self-compassion improve body image. A qualitative coding team tracked changes in affect and cognition over three time points. The results demonstrated that college women consistently expressed body acceptance and psychological flexibility.

Virtue, flourishing, and positive psychology in psychotherapy: An overview and research prospectus.

Researchers have increasingly called for the examination of both mental health symptoms and well-being when providing and evaluating psychotherapy, and although symptoms and well-being are typically inversely related, these appear to be distinct constructs that may require distinct intervention strategies. Positive psychology interventions, virtue-based treatments, and psychotherapies explicitly focused on promoting well-being have emerged in response to, or perhaps in concert with, the calls for attention to symptoms and well-being. Our review of the relevant and vast research pockets revealed that these treatments demonstrated relative efficacy in promoting well-being, whereas evidence for relative efficacy when reducing symptoms was largely inconclusive, particularly in psychotherapy contexts.