Specialist Rehabilitation Providers' Experiences With an Online Self-Compassion Course: Reflexive Thematic Analysis.

Authors

Eva Cohen, Kristina M Kokorelias, Dorothy Luong, McKyla McIntyre, Marina Bastawrous Wasilewski, Sander L Hitzig, Sarah Munce, Rosalie Steinberg, Anthony Feinstein, Mark T Bayley, Lawrence R Robinson, Carolyn Steele Gray, Robert Simpson

Published in

JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies. Volume 13. Pages e81706. Jul 15, 2026. Epub Jul 15, 2026.

Abstract

Rehabilitation health care providers (HCPs) report high levels of burnout. Self-compassion interventions have shown beneficial effects on HCP burnout, but they have never been explored in specialist rehabilitation settings where challenges may differ.
This study aimed to explore the experiences of specialist rehabilitation HCPs with an online Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities (SCHC) course aimed at providing tools to regulate emotional well-being, including burnout.
Semistructured qualitative interviews (n=20) with specialist rehabilitation HCPs were used to explore experiences with the SCHC course. A reflexive thematic analysis study design was chosen to highlight participants' insights, and inductive coding was undertaken to analyze data and organize findings into themes.
Six themes that reflected HCPs' experiences with the course were constructed: (1) the nature of working in rehabilitation; (2) different perspectives on burnout in specialist rehabilitation; (3) a new perspective, less self-criticism, more self-compassion; (4) growing recognition of the importance of compassion for oneself and others; (5) challenges engaging with the SCHC course; and (6) challenges to sustaining self-compassion in specialist rehabilitation.
Specialist rehabilitation HCPs who participated in the SCHC course developed a new understanding of the importance of fostering self-compassion and compassion for others. This shift may have supported HCPs in navigating workplace challenges, and HCPs described experiencing changes that could help with burnout, improve their care of patients and relationships with colleagues.

PMID:
42456122
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 16 Jul 2026.

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