Abstract

Respecting concern communicated within humanistic psychology, the review primarily aimed to carefully compare studies exploring Compassion-Based Mindfulness Interventions (CBMI) to establish the differential multidimensional psychological emotional effects of the human experience in relation to emotional regulation.  Although a wealth of empirical research has been conducted into mindfulness, the link between mindfulness and emotional regulation remains ambiguous (Hill & Updegraff, 2012).  Capturing recent scholarly attention, self-compassion has demonstrated to be healthy mechanism for emotional regulation (Neff, 2003).  Given the inherent positive nature of compassion as a self-regulatory tool, compassion cultivating protocols have seen investigation within the Positive Psychological arena.  Studies reviewed incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods which enabled a deeper understanding of emotional regulation in relation to compassion.  A range of databases were searched and six articles were reviewed strongly indicating emotional regulation follows a specific sequence.  This sequence appears to promote positive psychological states offering promising use for positive orientated therapists wishing to incorporate CBMI within client sessions.  Recommendations for future research are discussed.

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