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MINDFULNESS IN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION: A PILOT STUDY SM. De Simone, A. Romano, M.R. Strollo University of Naples "Federico II" (ITALY)

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Background Among professional psychologists distress and burnout are commonly reported and have implications for the quality of patient care. Already in the course of university studies, psychology students relate to mental distress and lower life satisfaction

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Background The clinical efficacy of mindfulness has consistently been proved over the last two decades. A lot of studies, however, have been undertaken on its possible use in the adults training in a formal learning context.

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Methods This pilot study aims to describe, through self- assessment tests with an assessment before and after the educational experience, the path of a group of young university Psychology Students, at University of Naples Federico II.

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Methods The workshop was inspired by the ACT structured program, and consisted of 6 sessions of two-hour as part of the course in the pedagogy of learning processes of the degree course in Psychology.

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Methods Participants Among 50 students who participated in the workshops, 31 students completed the assessment, both the pre-test and post-test.

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Methods- Hypothesis This exploratory study aims to assess the effect of meditation practices on the psychological factors and well- being in psychology students. These factors are identified as the main processes by which mindfulness protocols operate: decentralization, psychological flexibility, values, emotional regulation, self- compassion, spirituality, referring to mainly theoretical studies by Baer.

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Methods- Hypothesis The Research Question is this: does meditation practice promote change in a given process (decentralization, emotional regulation, etc.)? Does it promote also an increase in the perception of well-being?

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The Laboratory

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The protocol of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (known as ACT) is one of the most known protocols of mindfulness from the last years

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The Laboratory The protocol of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy The use of linguistic instruments such as metaphors and paradoxes, the ability of mindfulness and a multitude of experimental exercises, are considered exercises of meditation which are associated with traditional behavioral interventions. ACT proposes a model, named hexaflex, that includes six pathologic processes to which correspond multiple therapeutically processes.

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The Laboratory Inspired by the protocol mindfulness ACT, the workshop was structured into six meetings of two hours: I meeting: theoretical introduction and presentation of the laboratory. What is the mind? What is the purpose of ACT? What is mindfulness?. Exercise in pairs: the ACT is a simple experiential metaphor of "the book before his eyes was pushed away, resting gently on her lap".

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The Laboratory II meeting: the use of visual and filmic metaphors for the explanation of the six processes identified by ACT. The experience of a continuous awareness. III meeting: the exercise of Hexaflex. Meditation on a music piece. IV meeting: diffusion. Exercise of the "I'm having the thought that.. ". Exercise of the "Singing with silly voices." Metaphor on computer screen. Meditative techniques: the brook leaves. The normality of negative thinking. Metaphor of the passengers in the bus.

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The Laboratory V meeting: acceptance. Meditative exercise of the body scanners. Attention to pseudo-acceptance. Metaphor of crossing the swamp. Metaphor of the demons on the boat. Switch metaphor of the struggle. Walking Zen. VI Meeting : To be here-and-now. Exercise of the awareness of the hand. Visual metaphors of the self as context. Exercises: note whos noting, speaking and listening, observing the stage. The values . Exercise: "imagine your 80th birthday" guided fantasy. The action to be performed: homework on "SMART" objectives.

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The choice for using the ACT protocol the six processes of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy works (acceptance, cognitive diffusion, self as context, contact with the present moment, contact with values , committed actions) seem to be largely overlapping processes identified in terms of structure/ process, mostly suggestible by the practices of mindfulness: decentralization, psychological flexibility, values, emotional regulation, self-compassion.

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The choice for using the ACT protocol it is a protocol that uses many other tools, such as metaphors or paradoxes and experiential exercises, that can be considered for all the performances, meta- cognitive and meta-emotional tools, so promoters of self- reflexivity and self- training.

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Conclusions the analysis of self-assessment questionnaires shows an improvement in all surveyed areas. The possible implications of the findings of this study regard the ability to use and promote the use of the techniques of mindfulness beyond the clinical setting as valuable tools for growth and development and above all within learning contexts.

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Conclusions Particularly, the proposal to include a mindfulness protocol reflective practice in training programs in psychology is designed to provide skills to deal with the stressors of training, and through this experience of structured effective self-care, also improve long-term clinical skills of the future psychologists.

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Conclusions The results provide preliminary evidence that a brief (six meetings of two hours) program of mindfulness training may result in the achievement of acceptable competence, to help future psychologists in their clinical practice

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Conclusions and in the achievement of more improvement on the sense of well-being, essential to preserve as a practice of "self-care" in a workplace that, starting from the same years of training, bears significant stress and risks of burn-out

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References Baer, R.A. (Eds.) (2012). Come funziona la mindfulness. Teoria, ricerca, strumenti. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore. Baer, R.A., Smith, G., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., Toney, L. (2006). Using self- report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13, pp. 27-45. Tarrasch, R. (2014). Mindfulness Meditation Training for Graduate Students in Educational Counseling and Special Education: A Qualitative Analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies, in Press, pp. 1-12. Harris, R. (2009). ACT Made simple: An Easy-To-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. New Harbinger Publications. Hayes, S.C., Luoma, J.B., Bond, F.W., Masuda A., Lillis J. (2006), Acceptance and Commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, pp. 1-25. Harris, R. (2011). Fare act. Una guida pratica per professionisti allAcceptance and Commitment Therapy. Milano: FrancoAngeli. Mortari, L. (2006). La pratica dellaver cura. Milano: Bruno Mondadori.

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References Dobkin, P.L., Hutchinson, T.A. (2013). Teaching mindfulness in medical school: where are we now and where are we going?. Medical Education, 47, pp. 768- 779. Ivars, A.J., Calatayud, D.P. (2013). Mindfulness training for interpreting students. Lebende Sprachen, 58, 2, pp. 341-365. Lampe, M. (2012). Mindfulness-based business ethics education. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 16 Issue 3, pp.99-111. Rogers, H.B. (2013b). Koru: Teaching Mindfulness to Emerging Adults. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, June 2013, 134, pp.73-81. Rogers H.B. (2013a), Mindfulness meditation for increasing resilience in college students. Psychiatric Annals, 43(12), December 2013, pp. 545-548.

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Thank you for your attention! You may ask some doubts, info and other questions to: strollo@unina.it alessandra.romano2@unina.it mrdesimone@libero.it