Mindfulness for Clinicians: Resilience, Self-Compassion and Burnout

Starting from the idea that you cannot pour from an empty cup, this part turns mindfulness toward the clinician. A 2015 study linked higher mindfulness with greater resilience and life satisfaction, partly because mindfulness weakens the automatic habit of judging a failure as bad. Self-compassion is contrasted with mindfulness: mindfulness asks what you are experiencing, self-compassion asks what you need. Studies from 2005 and 2016 found that mindfulness training increased self-compassion in healthcare professionals and psychology students. Burnout, defined as exhaustion from prolonged and excessive stress, is addressed through a 2018 systematic review showing lower emotional exhaustion, stress, depression and anxiety after MBSR programs. A scenario with a difficult patient arriving late shows how mindfulness creates a gap between emotion and reaction. The power of the pause has four steps: stop, take three to five slow breaths, observe thoughts, emotions and body sensations, and proceed mindfully. Mindful walking and breathing techniques can be used at any point in the working day.