• Psychological interventions that seek to specifically increase levels of self-compassion could help stress management by promoting adaptive emotion regulation. • Within the population context of family carers of older adults, there is currently limited research into self-compassion, and the potential theoretical underpinnings of self-compassion as a form of support for this group have not been explored. • We outline a conceptual rationale for why self-compassion is an applicable intervention target for family carers of older adults, bringing together understanding and evidence from the perspectives of family caregiver stress and emotional regulation. • Considerations for future research include additional proof-of-concept work, addressing perceptions of self-compassion, and involvement of family carers of older adults in the design and adaptation of self-compassion interventions.