Good for Workers, Good for Clients

Our team member, Dr Wendy Ducat, presented an evaluation of a brief mindfulness training program at the recent Australian Winter School held in Brisbane. In her presentation, Wendy eloquently spoke on the rationale, theory, structure, results, and implications of a brief mindfulness training program conducted for Queensland Health staff under the auspices of the Alcohol and Drug Training Resource Unit. Wendy completed this study in collaboration with co-researcher and supervisor Dr Carla Schlesinger.

After a short guided mindfulness exercise, Wendy took the audience through the definitions and types of mindfulness in Buddhist and Western contexts, the importance of clinician mastery of mindfulness and the need for self-compassion, details on the actual program and methodology employed, and interesting data on the the results of the training program. Iin a nutshell, based on a sample size of 51 participants, results show increases in self-reported mastery, significant increase in mindfulness knowledge and confidence, increases in clinician coping and level of self-compassion, but no significant changes in general well-being. The lack of change in well-being may be attributable to a generally high level of self-care and well-being amongst the clinician population anyway, where the impact of mindfulness on this variable may not be significant. Initial feedback supports the utility of such a mindfulness training program for clinicians.

Congratulations to Wendy for her wonderful contribution to mindfulness research and application.