The Mindful Way Through Self-Stigma: An Open Pilot Study of a Single-Session Acceptance-Based Behavioral Therapy Workshop for Mental Health Self-Stigma

Self-stigma is associated with negative mental health and treatment outcomes. Interventions that target self-stigma among individuals with mental health difficulties are needed. The aim of the present study was to develop and test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effect of a single-session, acceptance-based behavioral therapy (ABBT) workshop for self-stigma (The Mindful Way Through Self-Stigma) among adults waiting to receive treatment at outpatient mental health clinics. Participants (N = 39) participated in a virtual, 2-hr, ABBT-based group workshop designed to target self-stigma. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing levels of self-stigma and hypothesized mechanisms of change (experiential avoidance, mindfulness, and values-based actions) at baseline, 1-week, and 1-month follow-up. Participants also completed self-report measures of satisfaction and provided feedback via qualitative interviews after the workshop. Overall, feedback indicated that participants found the program to be acceptable and helpful. Findings from repeated measures analyses of variance showed that self-stigma and experiential avoidance significantly decreased, and mindful acceptance significantly increased, over the course of the study. Changes in self-stigma were associated with changes in experiential avoidance and mindful acceptance. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine a brief, group-based, telehealth-delivered ABBT-based intervention that is designed to target self-stigma across a range of diagnostic presentations. The present study extends the literature on the promise of ABBT-based interventions for self-stigma and addresses a need for shorter self-stigma interventions that can be easily disseminated at scale and integrated into existing mental health care systems.