Expressive Writing and Compassion Focused Therapy: A study on negative and shame memories
Martina Laruccia, Anna Rita Colasanti
This paper reports the results of an experiment comparing the differential and combined efficacy of Pennebaker’s Expressive Writing technique (EW) and Gilbert’s Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) on processing negative and shame memories. The research was conducted on a sample of 45 college students divided into three experimental groups, monitoring how their psychological well-being increased or not after the procedures. The increase in the psychological well-being of the subjects was recorded using two questionnaires, the Psychological Well-Being Scales (PWBS) by Carol Ryff and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) by Watson, Clark, and Tellegen. Those questionnaires were dispensed before and after performing the test, and eventually as a follow up. The delivery of the test was performed in person, all through January and February 2023. The results show variations in the psychological well-being of the subjects among the three groups, highlighting an increase in participants’ psychological well-being, specifically as a result of the combined use of the two practices.
Keywords
Negative memories, shame memories, Expressive Writing, Compassion Focused Therapy, psychological well-being.