The Experience of Self-Compassion in Church of England Working Clergy: An Exploratory Qualitative Pilot Study Conducted in England
Self-compassion improves a range of psychosocial outcomes and can support working populations experiencing burnout. Clergy can experience higher levels of burnout, but there is limited research exploring the benefits of self-compassion for this population. This qualitative pilot study, conducted in...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Journal of religion and health
Year: 2025, Volume: 64, Issue: 4, Pages: 2679-2696 |
| Further subjects: | B
Self-compassion
B Compassion B Church of England B Clergy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Self-compassion improves a range of psychosocial outcomes and can support working populations experiencing burnout. Clergy can experience higher levels of burnout, but there is limited research exploring the benefits of self-compassion for this population. This qualitative pilot study, conducted in England, utilised semi-structured interviews to examine how Church of England clergy perceive, value and experience self-compassion. An inductive Qualitative Content Analysis produced three categories: ‘Compassion is deeply rooted in theology’, ‘Self-compassion is primarily practical self-care’, and ‘Self-compassion requires a surrounding ‘habitus of compassion’. This suggests clergy perceive self-compassion as practical care and with less theological validity compared to compassion for others. Participants indicated interest in self-compassion teaching/training, alongside the need for self-compassion to exist within a wider institutional culture of compassion. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-6571 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s10943-025-02373-9 |
