A qualitative examination of a mindfulness based intervention with mothers involved in child welfare

The objectives of the current study were to establish if a mindfulness based intervention (The Tools for Well-Being workshop) successfully helped participants to reduce stress, build resiliency, and experience elevated levels of subjective well-being. This workshop and research stem from a lack of knowledge centered on mothers involved with child welfare and their experiences in mindfulness based interventions. This intervention was made and deemed necessary by Social Workers to help mothers who experience high levels of stress while dealing with complex case plans to build positive coping methods that will lower reactive behavior to stressful stimuli. In depth interviews were used to gather the stories and collective experience of each participant. There were a total of 5 participants in the study. The study found that participants experienced increased resilience and significant decreases in stress levels. Participants reported using mindfulness as a way to improve sleep, their interactions with children and family, as well as a way to lower stress.Through increased levels of resilience and stress reduction, participants were able to build a more positive outlook on their lives and stressful interactions which led to an increase in subjective well-being amongst participants. The promising findings of the current research should be built upon to determine if mindfulness based interventions should be offered as a service in Child Welfare.