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 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.