Self‐Compassion Among College Counseling Center Clients: An Examination of Clinical Norms and Group Differences

Abstract

There has been growing interest in the mental health benefits of self‐compassion. This study was designed to establish norms on the Self‐Compassion Scale–Short Form, a popular measure of self‐compassion for individuals seeking counseling, and to examine group differences in self‐compassion based on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, previous counseling, and psychiatric medication use. Data for this study were collected through the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, a practice‐research network of more than 240 college and university counseling centers.