Psychological Empowerment: Users and Professionals in Psychiatric Care before and after Mindfulness Treatment

Abstract

The current study had two purposes, namely for the first time to investigate the degree of psychological empowerment (PE) before and after treatment with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and also for the first time to compare mental health users with professional healthcare providers in psychiatry in this respect. PE encompasses the processes that allow people greater control over their lives and to develop critical awareness of their sociopolitical environments. Participants were 14 mental health users (3 men and 11 women) and 19 professionals (1 man and 18 women) between the ages of 23 to 65 years. All of the users were outpatients and seven of them had more than one diagnosis. The majority of the users were diagnosed as having Recurrent Depression (11 individuals). The professional group consisted of mainly psychologists and psychotherapists. Both groups were undergoing Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with exactly the same structure and content. Results showed that the treatment increased PE and self-compassion for both users and professionals and the effect remained for at least three months. Concerning perceived feeling of security and perceived satisfaction, the professionals naturally felt more secure and satisfied before treatment but at after treatment and follow-up assessments, the users had caught up. In addition, the users also experienced improvements in physical and mental health, family relations and social relationships. It is therefore suggested that PE could be used to evaluate therapeutic outcomes in cognitive behavioral therapy, and furthermore could be introduced in therapist education for the purpose of deepening self-practice and self-reflection for both users and prospective therapists.

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