Efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program on Psychological Wellbeing, Psychological Distress, and Subjective Wellbeing Among Special Education Teachers

Abstract

Teachers in special education sectors harbour a very challenging job, their struggles can be manifested as handling day-to-day tantrums and entertaining a wide spectrum of the needs of children. Apart from that, they are to manage a great many other tasks that come in handy with their jobs. Mindfulness-Based Reduction (MBSR) program helps special education teachers improve their psychological and subjective well-being, fostering Mindfulness, enhancing job satisfaction, and bettering interpersonal relationships with their colleagues and students. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test study was conducted with 30 special education teachers to improve their overall well-being and enhance mindfulness. Before conducting this training program, the researcher was certified in providing training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program from 'Palouse Mindfulness'. The training program was conducted under the supervision of a Clinical Psychologist who is also a certified relaxation expert. MBSR is an 8-week training program and different mindfulness activities were conducted. Participants were accessed before and after the MBSR training program. Findings show a significant difference between Baseline Assessment and post-assessment scores. Results of the present study confirmed that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an effective training program that enhances mindfulness, psychological well-being, and subjective well-being and reduces psychological distress among special education teachers.