The effectiveness of brief workplace compassion-focussed training in improving wellbeing of stressed school employees

Abstract

Australian teachers and school employees report high levels of stress-related mental health problems. Previous theory and research show that workplace training in strategies to manage stress can improve organisational productivity as well as employee wellbeing. Theory suggests that self-compassion strategies may produce better outcomes, than standard cognitive behavioural training interventions, due to activation of self-soothing. This pilot randomised controlled trial evaluated whether inclusion of a brief compassion-focussed therapy (CFT) training workshop was more effective in reducing stress-related mental health problems of school employees, than the standard professional development (PD) workshop that incorporated cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness strategies. School employees (103) were recruited and randomly allocated to either the standard PD alone or to also participate in a brief CFT workshop. There were very large reductions in burnout and clinically significant improvements in mental health problems under both conditions. The results provide preliminary evidence that CFT-enhanced training improves secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction; further research needs to be conducted with a larger sample. These results may also be relevant to other occupations with a high emotional load. JEL Classification: I310