About Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens

The Challenge:  

Adolescence is a time of change and growth. It is the period of life reserved for rebellion and self-discovery, but as the demands in life increase for teens, this time is often fraught with confusion, anxiety or depression. For many teens these challenges lead to disconnection and isolation.

The Response:  

To support teens in coping more effectively with the ongoing challenges of their day-to-day life, teen experts Karen Bluth, Ph.D., and Lorraine Hobbs, M.A., co-created Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens (MSC-T), an empirically-supported, 8-week course designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion in teens.

Following in the footsteps of the adult MSC program and endorsed by MSC co-developers Chris Germer, Ph.D. and Kristin Neff, Ph.D., the teen adaptation is rooted in the three key components of self-compassion: self-kindness, common humanity and mindful, balanced awareness.

MSC-T teaches core principles and practices that enable teens to:

  • Respond to the challenges of these critical years with kindness and self-compassion
  • Identify their own suffering so they can learn to give themselves what they truly need
  • Know they are not alone in their suffering
  • Encourage an open-minded acceptance of the struggles they are facing
  • Feel supported and accepted in an emotionally safe, connecting, and guided learning environment with peers

In this 8-session course, which meets for 1.5 hours per session, teens engage in developmentally appropriate activities and carefully crafted practices and meditations, which provide them with the opportunity to learn how to navigate the emotional ups and downs of life with greater ease. Backed by research, findings indicate increases in emotional well-being and greater resilience after taking the course.

The overarching goal of Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens (MSC-T) is to help teens turn toward the emotional ups and downs of this life stage with greater ease, to offer them specific tools for recognizing and managing their struggles, and to help them learn how to meet these struggles with kindness and compassion.

This understanding was clearly expressed by a teen participant in the MSC course in a statement she made after the compassionate friend meditation:“You know … I’m thinking that it’s ok if other kids don’t like me… because I like me!”

The Research

  • The overarching goal of Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens (MSC-T) is to help teens turn toward the emotional ups and downs of this life stage with greater ease, to offer them specific tools for recognizing and managing their struggles, and to help them learn how to meet these struggles with kindness and compassion.

    This understanding was clearly expressed by another teen in a statement she made after the compassionate friend meditation: “You know … I’m thinking that it’s ok if other kids don’t like me… because I like me!”

    Several research studies demonstrating the positive outcomes of MSC-T have been published. In the first pilot study (Bluth et al.., 2016), findings indicated decreases in depression, anxiety, stress, and negative affect after a 6-session class. Findings in the second pilot study (Bluth & Eisenlohr-Moul, 2017) demonstrated decreases in stress, and increases in resilience, positive risk-taking (willingness to take on new challenges) and gratitude after the course was over. Further, a within-person analysis indicated that increases in mindfulness and self-compassion were associated – and therefore likely responsible – for the decreases in depressive symptoms and stress; additionally, increases in mindfulness were associated with decreases in anxiety and increases in self-compassion were associated with increases in positive risk-taking and resilience. Another study published in 2021 by Donovan, Bluth, Scott, Mohammed, and Cousineau demonstrated that MSC-T was feasible when taught to students on a college campus, and that perceived stress decreased from pre- to post-program. Most recently, Bluth and colleagues published a study in 2022 in which MSC-T was taught to transgender and gender-expansive teens. Findings demonstrated that anxiety and depression decreased significantly from pre- to post-program, and self-compassion, mindfulness, life satisfaction and resilience improved significantly over this time. Furthermore, at three months follow-up, significant improvements were observed in factors related to suicidal thoughts. Read more about the study with transgender teens here and here.

Let's Talk About Supporting Teens with MSC! Contact us to discuss upcoming courses or bringing this course to your community.

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