Building Resilience in Social Workers: An Exploratory Study on the Impacts of a Mindfulness-based Intervention

ABSTRACT

Burnout is a frequent and well-documented consequence of social work practice. The literature suggests that mindfulness-based interventions might help develop the mental states and emotional skills that are indicators of resilience. This mixed-methods, non-randomised controlled, exploratory study with 14 social workers in Canada investigated differences in social workers’ levels of stress, resilience, and burnout after a mindfulness-based intervention, compared to a waitlist group. The intervention group was also interviewed about changes in their relationships within the workplace, their perceived sense of mental health, and wellbeing. Results suggested that the mindfulness-based intervention significantly decreased the treatment group’s perceived stress compared to those on the waitlist and continued to decline for 26 weeks post-intervention. Intervention participants reported positive changes in attitudes, perspectives, behaviours, and energy in relation to their workplace relationships with peers and supervisors. Mindfulness-based interventions for reducing stress and building resilience to burnout in social workers and other helping professionals hold promise, and invite further research.

KEYWORDS:

• Mindfulness
• Resilience
• Stress Reduction
• Burnout
• Compassion Fatigue
• Professional Practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by a seed grant from the University of Calgary Research Grants Committee.