The Effectiveness of Compassion - Focused Therapy on Perceived Stress and Emotional Suppression in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused therapy on perceived stress and emotional suppression in coronary artery disease patients.

The research method was a quasi - experimental design with pre test - post test experimental and control groups. The statistical population includes all the coronary artery patients who had referred to Tabriz medical centers and received a diagnosis by a specialist. The sample consisted of 30 patients, who were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups in the same way. The experimental group received compassion – based trherapy in 8 two-hour sessions, while the control group did not receive any therapeutic intervention. Data collection tools were perceived stress scale and Weinberger adjustment inventory. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data of the present study.

The results showed that compassion – focused therapy had a significant effect on reducing perceived stress (P < 0.01) and emotional suppression (P < 0.01) in patients with coronary artery disease.

It can be concluded that compassion – focused therapy is effective way to reduce perceived stress and emotional suppression in patients with coronary heart disease.