Table 5.

Matrix of theme representation within the 12 included studies.

	Study: Authors and year	Theme 1: Participants’ experiences prior to the intervention: Guilt, shame and self-Blame	Theme 2: Initial Response to the Idea of Participation		Theme 3: Aspects valued or considered beneficial					Theme 4: Valued outcomes of the intervention				Theme 5: The end of the intervention and moving forward
			Variation in initial response to the idea of self-compassion and a CFT approach to understanding personal problems	Anxieties around participating in a group intervention	The “Tricky Brain” and Three-Systems Model	Compassionate exercises: Initially challenging but ultimately useful	The group as a safe place to share and explore	Connection and belonging	Approach of facilitators: caring, compassionate and authentic	Positive changes in emotional experience	Increased awareness of self-criticism and replacing it with self-compassion	Improvements in self-image	Improvements in relationships outside of the group	Sense of loss and desire to maintain connections	The end ss just the beginning
1	Altavilla and Strudwick (2022) (46)	–	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	–	–	✓	✓	✓
2	Ashfield et al. (2021) (10)	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓
3	Ashworth et al. (2015) (63)	✓	–	–	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	–
4	Clapton et al. (2018) (54)	–	–	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	–
5	Heriot-Maitland et al. (2014) (11)	–	–	–	✓	✓	✓	–	–	✓	✓	–	✓	–	–
6	Gilbert et al. (2022) (9)	–	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
7	Goad and Parker (2021) (53)	–	–	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	–
8	Gooding et al. (2020) (58)	✓	–	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	–	✓	✓
9	Lucre and Corten (2013) (7)	–	✓	–	–	–	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	–	–	✓	✓
10	Maynard et al. (2023) (10)	✓	✓	–	–	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓
11	Mullen et al. (2020) (59)	✓	✓	–	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	–
12	Raynor et al. (2022) (29)	✓	–	✓	–	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	–	–	✓	–

✓ Theme identified; - Theme not identified.