Mindfulness at the Macro Level

Dr Brodie Paterson

Director CALM Training

Mindfulness is suddenly everywhere

Being

Belonging

Becoming

The Well Being Challenges• 1in 7 scots on anti depressants • Declining social mobility, • Conflict between attainment and well-being in

schools • Relationship between status and ill health• A pervading sense of pressure and lack of agency

in many workplaces and organisations• Zero Hours culture• Some of longest working hours in Europe

Triune Brain Theory

• Negative Stress

A User Guide To Your Brain

• “ I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized what was telling me this.”

• -Emo Phillips

• The term mindfulness derives from the Pali language word sati meaning “to remember”

• as a mode of consciousness it commonly signifies presence of mind

• Mindfulness as a receptive attention to and awareness of present events and experience (Brown & Ryan, 2003).

Definition

• A moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment.

• A state not a trait (although…..)

• May be promoted by certain practices or activities (e.g., meditation).

• Not equivalent to or synonymous with them and has no link to any belief system.

(Davis and Hayes 2011)

Premise

• supporting children and adults with chronic and acute behavioral distress can be traumatic and stressful

• pressures arising can cause dysfunction in the individual, team and the service

• Compassion fatigue, burntout staff, split teams and failed services

Stages of countertransference (Maier and Ryebroek)

Novice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Experienced

Sequence

Neutral to hopeful attitude - empathy

Percolating Negative feelings i.e. fear and anger

Contained feelings (e.g. dislike, hate)

Defenses i.e. denial and projection

Expressed acting out against others e.g. children or other staff

Rationalisation e.g. secret shame and guilt

Intervention Self Self Self and Peers

Self Peers and Staff

Self and Supervisor

Self and therapist

InterventionOutcomes

Accept feelings

Acknowledge feelings

Reality Checks

Acknowledge and express to others

Express towards child appropriately

ResolveUnderstandSelf Acceptance

Mindfulness training for staff

• Mindfulness and challenging behaviour– care staff working with aggression– reduce the use of physical restraint,

with patients with aggression mental health problems

– learning disabilities and aggression,).

Four Facets

• Mindfulness of the Body

• Mindfulness of Feelings

• Mindfulness of Mind

• Mindfulness of Dhamma

Selfcare • "intrapersonal work, interpersonal support,

professional development and support, and physical/recreational activities" (Carrol et al. Murra 1999)

• physical

• psychological

• spiritual

• support

Organisations are not machines

They are living organisms whose influence may must be recognised, understood and consciously managed as otherwise it can undermine any therapeutic initiative

Bloom (2008)  

Organizational Dynamic Trauma-based Parallel Process 

Communication networks tend to break down under stress and as this occurs, service delivery becomes increasingly fragmented, and organizational memoryis lost.

DISSOCIATION, FRAGMENTATION, AMNESIA

When communication networks break down so too dothe feedback loops that are necessary for consistentand timely error correction.

SYSTEMATIC ERROR

As decision making becomes increasingly non-participatory and problem solving more reactive an increasing number of short sighted policy decisions are made that appear to compound existing problems

LOSS OF DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES AND PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT, LOSS OF COMPLEXITY, IMPAIRED COGNITION

Bloom (2008)  Organizational Dynamic Trauma-based Parallel Process

 

As decision making becomes non-participatory and problem solving more reactive an increasing number of short sighted policy decisions are made that appear to compound existing problems

LOSS OF DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES AND PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT, LOSS OF COMPLEXITY, IMPAIRED COGNITION

Unresolved interpersonal conflicts increase and are not resolved.

IMPOVERISHED RELATIONSHIPS

As the situation feels increasingly out of control, organizational leaders become more controlling,.

INCREASED AUTHORITARIANISM, LOSS OF CRITICAL JUDGMENT, SILENCING OF DISSENT, INCREASEDCONFORMITY

Bloom (2008)

Organizational Dynamic

Trauma-based Parallel Process

As the organization becomes more hierarchical there is a progressive and simultaneous isolation of leaders, loss of critical judgment, and a “dumbing down” of staff

DISEMPOWERMENT HELPLESSNESS

Staff respond to the perceived punitive measures instituted by leaders by acting-out and passive aggressive behaviors.

INCREASED AGGRESSION

Bloom (2008) Organizational Dynamic Trauma-based

Parallel Process

Over time, leaders and staff lose sight of the essential purpose of their work together and derive less and less satisfaction and meaning from the work.

LOSS OF MEANING

When this spiral is occurring, staff feel increasingly angry, demoralized, “burned out”, helpless and hopeless about the people they are working to serve.

DEMORALISATION

Ultimately, if this destructive sequence is not arrested, organization begins to look and act in similar ways to the traumatized clients it is supposed to be helping.

SELF DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR FORE-SHORTENED FUTURE LOSS OF CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING

• An early study was with magazine salespeople: The mindful ones sold more.

• Naturally opens hearts to greater compassion and develops the desire to end the suffering of others.

Bad Vs Good in Mindfulness

Search Inside Yourself

• Attention training:

• Self-knowledge:

• Creating mental

• habits:

Yes Really……

Declining social mobility

Economic Inequality

Endemic Alcohol Misuse

Housing Crisis

Mindfulness and our Society

• Through increased economic fears we work harder for longer hours

• What materialistic needs are realistic and essential.

• Voluntary simplification

ReferencesBrown, K.W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848.

Cook R (2013) The Changing Face of Youth Unemployment and Employment in Scotland

1992-2012. Glasgow. The Scotland Institute.

Daly, M., Boyce, C., & Wood, A. (2014, August 18). A Social Rank Explanation of How Money Influences Health. Health Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000098.

Prilleltensky, I., and Nelson, G. (2002).  Doing psychology critically:  Making a difference in diverse settings.  London: Palgrave.