Date of Award
8-31-2026
Document Type
Campus Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Counseling
First Advisor
Sharon G. Horne, Professor, Chairperson of Committee
Second Advisor
Kerrie G. Wilkins-Yel, Professor, Member
Third Advisor
Zoe Peterson, Professor, University of Indiana, Bloomington
Abstract
ABSTRACT
SOUTH KOREAN THERAPISTS’ USE OF SELF-COMPASSION TO COUNTER STIGMA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO LGBTQ+ CLINICAL COMPETENCY
August 2026
Eunhu Chang, B.A., Dongguk University
M.A., Sogang University
M.S.Ed., University of Indiana, Bloomington
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston
Directed by Professor Sharon G. Horne
South Korea is one of the countries in which same-sex marriage has not been legalized, where the visibility of LGBTQ+ populations and institutional support for them are still developing, with limited access to mental health care for these populations. In mental health field, few studies have examined the status of LGBTQ+ training programs or LGBTQ+ clinical competencies of Korean mental health professionals in South Korea. Recently, self-compassion has emerged globally as a promising intervention for sexual and gender minority populations. Given this, the present study had two major purposes: (1) adapting the 12-item short form of the self-compassion scale into a Korean version, to measure therapists’ use of self-compassion in LGBTQ+ counseling contexts and examining its validity, and (2) examining whether therapists’ use of self-compassion moderates the relationship between clinical experience (years of practice, number of LGBTQ+ trainings, and number of LGBTQ+ clients), and LGBTQ+ clinical competencies (attitude awareness, clinical skills, and knowledge). To achieve these purposes, factor analysis was conducted to explore the factor structure and validity of the adapted version of self-compassion, and hierarchical analyses were conducted to examine the moderating role of therapists’ use of self-compassion in the association between clinical experience and LGBTQ+ clinical competency.
A total of 201 Korean mental health professionals participated in this cross-sectional survey study. The adapted self-compassion scale demonstrated excellent reliability with a one-factor structure. Self-compassion did not moderate the relationship between clinical experiences and LGBTQ+ clinical competencies at the Bonferroni- corrected significance level (p=.005), although the association between number of LGBTQ+ trainings and attitude awareness was moderated by self-compassion at the conventional significance level (p=.024). Self-compassion was the strongest predictor across all three clinical competency subscales, except clinical skills, where number of LGBTQ+ trainings and number of LGBTQ+ clients showed higher predictive power. Overall, results suggested that greater clinical exposure to LGBTQ+ clients and LGBTQ+ trainings opportunities can strengthen LGBTQ+ clinical competency, and therapists’ use of self-compassion emerged is a stronger predictor than years of clinical practice or LGBTQ+ clinical experiences in attitudinal awareness and knowledge regarding LGBTQ+ concerns among Korean mental health professionals.
Overall, this study showed a promising role of therapists’ use of self-compassion in LGBTQ+ clinical competency in South Korea, suggesting the potential value of integrating self-compassion into professional training programs for Korean mental health professionals. Clinical and social justice implications of the findings are discussed along with study limitations and recommendations for future research.
Recommended Citation
Chang, Eunhu, "South Korean Therapists' Use of Self-Compassion to Counter Stigma and Its Relationship to LGBTQ+ Clinical Competency" (2026). Graduate Doctoral Dissertations. 1174.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/doctoral_dissertations/1174
Comments
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