Can compassion focused therapy enhance dual recovery for veterans

: In our clinical work with veterans experiencing serious mental illness and substance use disorders, we noticed specific challenges not commonly addressed with traditional dual recovery group therapy-including having overactive threat systems and feelings of shame and self-criticism. For a program development project at our Veterans Affairs Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center, we designed and implemented a group therapy program based on Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), a therapeutic model that directly addresses the aforementioned challenges (Gilbert, 2009b). Results from pre- and post-intervention measures suggested veterans gained compassion and mindfulness skills and experienced reduced depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).