The Effectiveness of Compassion-focused Therapy for Improving Emotional Control and Reducing the Severity of Pain in Migraine Patients

Because of the unwanted effects of the patient’s migraine headaches and the role of excitement and stress in the development and exacerbation of headaches, migraine headaches are psychosomatic disorders that affect the patients’ psychological lives. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) for improving emotional control and reducing the severity of pain in patients with migraines.

A total of 30 patients with migraines referred to Isfahan Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan City, Iran, were selected and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The research instruments included the Emotion Control Questionnaire (ECQ), von Korff’s questionnaire for grading the severity of chronic pain, and the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire. The experimental group received eight 90-min sessions of CFT, and both groups took the post-test after finishing the training sessions. Analysis of the data involved both descriptive and inferential statistics, including mean, standard deviation, Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA), and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). 

The results showed that the training based on CFT had a significant effect on improving emotional control and its subscales (F=21.81; P<0.01), as well as reducing pain severity in the patients (F=17.21; P<0.01). 

Therefore, in treating migraine patients, CFT can be a useful supplementary approach along with medications.