Effectiveness of a mind-body skills training program for healthcare professionals.

CONTEXT Because of the increased use and benefits of mind-body therapies, it is important that healthcare professionals receive training in these modalities. OBJECTIVE To determine whether healthcare professionals who attended the Center for Mind-Body Medicine's training program were incorporating mind-body skills into their professional or personal practices and whether they had a greater sense of life satisfaction. DESIGN Repeated measures analysis. SETTING Annual training programs were held in hotels and conference centers in the US. PARTICIPANTS Four hundred fifty-one healthcare professionals attended the programs from 1998 to 2001. Two hundred fifty-nine completed the one-year follow-up survey, and 307 completed the well-being survey. INTERVENTION The week-long program included didactic and experiential training in biofeedback, meditation, autogenics, imagery, and movement/exercise, as well as self-expression in small groups through drawings, written exercises, and genograms. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Questionnaires on previous training and personal and professional use of mind-body approaches were administered before and one year after the program. The Existential Well-Being (EWB) scale also was administered before and immediately after the training. RESULTS There was a significant increase in the personal use of mind-body skills and the number of participants who were teaching their clients to use all modalities and a significant decrease in the number of participants who were referring clients to others for training. Participants also had significantly higher life satisfaction scores after the program. CONCLUSION This professional training program was effective in promoting the personal and professional use of mind-body skills and in enhancing the personal fulfillment of trainees.