Mindfulness skills in trainee child and adolescent psychotherapists: Exploring the effects of mindfulness-based workshops in a mixed-methods study

Abstract

Objectives: Mindfulness may be a helpful tool to enhance psychotherapists' self-care and intrapersonal skills. To gain deeper knowledge about how to improve mindfulness skills in child and adolescent psychotherapists, we investigated the impact of two mindfulness-based workshops and a self-experience interval (individual homework practice of mindfulness exercises) on quantitative and qualitative measures in a nonrandomised study. Methods: Thirty-six trainee psychotherapists took part in the 6-week workshop-based mindfulness intervention (experimental group, EG). Twenty-one trainee psychotherapists served as a comparison group (CG). All participants completed the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS-D), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-D) and the Empathy Scale for Social Workers (ESSW) at pre, post and 6-month follow-up. Benefits of the regular use of mindfulness practice of 10 trainee psychotherapists in the EG were analysed using qualitative content analysis at the 6-month follow-up. Results: The quantitative analyses revealed a significant increase over time on the KIMS-D subscale “acting with awareness” in both groups and a significant increase over time on the KIMS-D subscale “accepting without judgment” in the EG in contrast to the CG. The qualitative analyses indicated good acceptance of the mindfulness-based workshop intervention. Qualitative changes referred to the achievement of knowledge in theory and practice concerning mindfulness and the integration of mindfulness-based interventions in everyday life. Conclusion: The mindfulness intervention appeared to produce quantitative long-term changes concerning mindfulness aspects and qualitative changes. Future research should elaborate conditions (i.e., intervention length, intensity and setting) that may influence the manifestation of quantitative and/or qualitative changes in mindfulness-based workshop interventions in professionals.