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

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.