Compassionate Imagery for People With An Intellectual Disability

NCT ID: NCT05339191

Last Updated: 2022-04-21

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 4 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-07-01
• Study Completion Date: 2021-04-30

Brief Summary

The current study aims to explore the adaptation of compassionate imagery for people with an intellectual disability who are experiencing mental health difficulties. It will explore whether participants are able to generate and use their own compassionate image, as well as exploring the participants' views of engaging in the workshop. It is an early exploratory study in what is hoped will be a longer process consisting of future feasibility and piloting work.

Between 6-10 participants who are attending the National Health Service (NHS) NHS Lanarkshire Community Learning Disability Team and are experiencing mental health difficulties will be recruited. Participants will be asked to attend a two-session workshop through which they will be supported to develop and use their own compassionate image. The research questions will be answered by obtaining descriptive data from data recording sheets completed during the sessions and by interviewing participants about their experiences of the workshop.

Detailed Description

People with an intellectual disability experience widespread stigma, mistreatment and abuse (Scior and Werner, 2016, Gravell, 2012, Hughes et al., 2012, Jones et al., 2012). These are likely to lead individuals to experience shame and self-criticism, which can contribute to the development of mental health difficulties. Indeed, many people with an intellectual disability do experience mental health difficulties (Buckles et al., 2013).

Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) is a psychological therapy which aims to reduce shame and self-criticism by developing a person's ability to feel compassion. It involves enabling individuals to learn to soothe themselves when they feel distressed. Compassionate imagery is one CFT technique used to do this (Gilbert, 2009). This can involve developing a mental image of a compassionate person or animal who is wise, strong, warm and non-judgemental.

The individual is encouraged to explore their experience of imagining this, which may include feeling a sense of safety, warmth and connectedness (Gilbert, 2015).

The current study aims to explore the adaptation of compassionate imagery for people with an intellectual disability who are experiencing mental health difficulties. It will explore whether participants are able to generate and use their own compassionate image, as well as exploring the participants' views of engaging in the workshop. It is an early exploratory study in what is hoped will be a longer process consisting of future feasibility and piloting work.

Between 6-10 participants who are attending the NHS Lanarkshire Community Learning Disability Team and are experiencing mental health difficulties will be recruited. Participants will be asked to attend a two-session workshop through which they will be supported to develop and use their own compassionate image. The research questions will be answered by obtaining descriptive data from data recording sheets completed during the sessions and by interviewing participants about their experiences of the workshop.

Conditions

Intellectual Disability

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Compassionate image workshop

Participants attend a workshop through which they will be supported to develop and use their own compassionate image.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Compassionate image workshop

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants attend a workshop through which they will be supported to develop and use their own compassionate image.

Interventions

Compassionate image workshop

Participants attend a workshop through which they will be supported to develop and use their own compassionate image.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Open to NHS Lanarkshire's Community Learning Disability Team (CLDT) and will therefore be aged 16 or above
• Experiencing mental health difficulties

Exclusion Criteria

• Do not have capacity to provide informed consent
• Have insufficient communication skills to engage with the tasks
• Have sensory impairments which are likely to inhibit their ability to engage with the study materials
• Actively suicidal
• Likely to be disruptive or distressed in a group setting
• Known to have previously engaged in a piece of therapeutic work involving the development of a compassionate image

• Minimum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 100 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Glasgow

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

NHS Lanarkshire

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Miriam Holm

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

NHS Lanarkshire

Locations

Kilsyth Community Centre

Kilsyth, Lanarkshire, United Kingdom

Countries

United Kingdom

Other Identifiers

L19092

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id