Exploring Children’s Experiences of Participating in a Mindfulness Intervention

In recent years there has been a rapid growth in mindfulness practices being applied to improve the health and wellbeing of those who participate. As a result mindfulness-based interventions (MBI’s) have been applied in medical and educational settings. The purpose of this piece of research is to explore children’s understanding of mindfulness following their involvement in a 12 week mindfulness based intervention. The research provides an in-depth explorative interpretation of both the pupils and the mindfulness practitioner’s experience of mindfulness. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed as a method of analysis which resulted in 3 master themes being identified. The themes include ‘physiological activities promote mindfulness’, ‘cognitive elements’ and ‘states of being’. Interpretation of the findings considered participants experiences in relation to the 7 attitudinal foundations as proposed by Kabat–Zinn (1990). A number of similarities between the participants were evident, as represented in the 3 master themes. However the degree to which each individual participant expressed their awareness and understating of mindfulness varied. Therefore the findings indicated that the participants were in the process of developing their understanding of mindfulness which differed between them on a conceptual level. This study is considered of relevance for those in the profession of Educational Psychology and those interested in the application of mindfulness-based interventions to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people. The research has made a distinctive contribution within the field of mindfulness in light of the findings. Recommendations are made to inform the practices of Educational Psychology Services with reference to the work of Educational Psychologists. Suggestions for further research have also been made to aid the direction of future research.

Self-Harm in Secondary Schools: What are the Perceptions and Experiences of Staff ?

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions and experiences of secondary school staff with regard to adolescent self-harm. The research was conducted in a Local Authority where there were particular concerns about rising numbers of young people presenting with self-harm. While the majority of young people who self-harm are supported in the community and never access clinical services, surprisingly little research has considered the role of schools and their staff. The research that has been done suggests that school staff can feel underqualified and overwhelmed in their attempts to support young people who self-harm. Further, there is a growing evidence base that when young people experience negative attitudes towards self-harm it is distressing and reduces the chance of them seeking further help. To address this, qualitative exploratory research was conducted with thirteen members of staff working in secondary schools. Since the research was concerned not just with experiences, but also with perceptions of adolescent self-harm, the participants were from two groups: those with direct experience of supporting young people who have self-harmed and those without any direct experience. Data collection involved individual semi-structured interviews which were analysed using thematic analysis. The research indicated that secondary school staff are keen to help and understand young people who self-harm, but that they do not always feel skilled or confident enough to do so, often feeling that some kind of specialist is required and/or fearing that they might make a situation worse. Findings highlighted the emotional impact of this work and illustrated the importance of supporting staff, who expressed a desire for further training and other forms of professional support such as supervision.