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Mindfulness training is increasingly being recommended as a means of fostering clinical skill development as well as stress reduction among trainees in the helping professions. However, existing mindfulness training protocols are often lengthy, making it challenging to integrate them into standard curricula, and mindfulness-based interventions have not yet been adapted to address clinical training goals. We conducted a mixed-methods study to investigate the effects of integrating a small dose of mindfulness training—only 10 min per session—into a clinical interviewing class with a new population, namely beginning social work students. Results demonstrated that students valued the training, saw it as relevant to their role as a clinical practitioner, and continued to draw on the training once they transitioned to their work with clients in the field. Students in the intervention group reported significant changes in counseling self-efficacy, but not in well-being in comparison to a nonrandomized cohort control group at posttest. Students’ long-term engagement in mindfulness practice at program entry was correlated with their degree of improvement in counseling self-efficacy over the course of the training. The results of this study suggest that even small doses of mindfulness training that do not appreciably alter students’ well-being may nevertheless play a role in fostering clinical skill development. Student responses to open-ended questions in the intervention group revealed that they drew on mindfulness to increase their ability to be present, open, and emotionally available and responsive to their clients in session. Students identified mindfulness as key to their clinical learning process.
Mindfulness training is increasingly being recommended as a strategy for fostering therapeutic effectiveness. We used a qualitative methodology to explore the potential utility of mindfulness training in helping beginning MSW students develop clinical intervention skills. Students reported that the training helped them manage distractions and anxiety, facilitated their ability to attend and respond to the client, and encouraged them to be more self-aware and flexible in their thinking in the classroom and in the field. Mindfulness training may strengthen current cognitive and behavioral training strategies, while providing a means of integrating affective and sensory learning into the training process.
Mindfulness training is increasingly being integrated as a contemplative pedagogy in social work education. Social work educators are using mindfulness training to support student self-care, facilitate critical reflection and enhance dialogue around challenging topics, integrate spiritual and holistic perspectives, and to help students develop direct practice skills. In this article, we describe a course we developed, where we use mindfulness training as a means of enhancing student self-care and well-being. We draw on our own experience, student evaluations, and the existing literature to identify and reflect upon key considerations in introducing this innovative experiential pedagogy into the social work classroom.
This article reviews the recent trend in mindfulness-based psychotherapies and explores the utility of mindfulness training for clinical practice education. It presents the current literature and evidence suggesting that mindfulness training may provide a vehicle to foster essential clinical skills and attitudes, increase self-care and reduce the impact of occupational stress, and prepare students to understand and use mindfulness-based interventions in practice.
Social work educators are exploring the benefits of mindfulness training for social work pedagogy. The authors evaluate the outcomes of a mindfulness program for MSW students. The authors assessed changes in mindfulness, self-compassion, affect, mood, and impairment due to emotional distress before and after the program, and at 4-month follow-up. The authors examine how the group process may facilitate the development of mindfulness and consider how mindfulness practices can support group development and student learning. Results demonstrate that mindfulness training supports student self-regulation and well-being and suggest that the active ingredients of the group process may play a role in mindfulness training outcomes.
Mindfulness training is increasingly being recommended as a vehicle for fostering clinical skill development across the helping professions. This teaching note introduces a curriculum for integrating mindfulness training into a foundational social work practice course. Research supporting the potential efficacy of applying mindfulness to social work training and practice is reviewed, and the application of the curriculum is described in detail. Student responses to the training are integrated with a description of relevant exercises, and implications for social work education are considered.