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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies

Date Submitted: Aug 4, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Aug 6, 2025 - Oct 1, 2025
Date Accepted: May 25, 2026
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Specialist Rehabilitation Providers’ Experiences With an Online Self-Compassion Course: Reflexive Thematic Analysis

Cohen E, Kokorelias KM, Luong D, McIntyre M, Wasilewski MB, Hitzig SL, Munce S, Steinberg R, Feinstein A, Bayley M, Robinson LR, Steele Gray C, Simpson R

Specialist Rehabilitation Providers’ Experiences With an Online Self-Compassion Course: Reflexive Thematic Analysis

JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol 2026;13:e81706

DOI: 10.2196/81706

PMID: 42456122

PMCID: 13372217

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.

Exploring Specialist Rehabilitation Providers’ Experiences with an Online Self- Compassion Course

  • Eva Cohen; 
  • Kristina Marie Kokorelias; 
  • Dorothy Luong; 
  • McKyla McIntyre; 
  • Marina Bastawrous Wasilewski; 
  • Sander Lorne Hitzig; 
  • Sarah Munce; 
  • Rosalie Steinberg; 
  • Anthony Feinstein; 
  • Mark Bayley; 
  • Larry Russell Robinson; 
  • Carolyn Steele Gray; 
  • Robert Simpson

ABSTRACT

Background:

Rehabilitation healthcare providers (HCPs) report high levels of burnout. Self-compassion interventions have shown beneficial effects on burnout in other areas of healthcare, but never assessed in specialist rehabilitation settings where challenges may differ.

Objective:

To explore the experiences of specialist rehabilitation HCPs with an online Self-Compassion for Healthcare Communities (SCHC) course aimed at addressing burnout.

Methods:

Qualitative interviews (N = 20) were used to explore course experiences and an inductive thematic approach undertaken to analyze data and organize findings.

Results:

Six themes that reflected HCPs’ experiences with the course arose: (1) the nature of working in rehabilitation, (2) different perspectives on burnout in specialist rehabilitation, (3) a new perspective – less self-criticism, more self-compassion, (4) growing recognition of the importance of compassion for oneself and others, (5) challenges engaging with the SCHC course, and (6) challenges to sustaining self-compassion in specialist rehabilitation.

Conclusions:

Specialist rehabilitation HCPs who participated in the SCHC course developed a new understanding of the importance of fostering self-compassion and compassion for others. This shift supported HCPs in navigating the challenges of their work while also reducing personal burnout and enhancing patient care and relationships with colleagues. Clinical Trial: The intervention was registered as a clinical trial (Identification Number: NCT05997082).


 Citation

Please cite as:

Cohen E, Kokorelias KM, Luong D, McIntyre M, Wasilewski MB, Hitzig SL, Munce S, Steinberg R, Feinstein A, Bayley M, Robinson LR, Steele Gray C, Simpson R

Specialist Rehabilitation Providers’ Experiences With an Online Self-Compassion Course: Reflexive Thematic Analysis

JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol 2026;13:e81706

DOI: 10.2196/81706

PMID: 42456122

PMCID: 13372217

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