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A great deal of literature focuses on improving care for patients. It is just as essential to improve job satisfaction and reduce burnout for those responsible for giving care. Mental health professionals (MHPs) face high levels of pressure. MHPs encounter stress in their positions due to overlapping roles, high workloads, employment concerns, and peer conflict (Chang & Shin, 2021). These levels of stress, if sustained, may lead to burnout. Unfortunately, burnout commonly occurs in people who maintain a job in which they help others (Chang & Shin, 2021). Burnout has many negative effects, including mental health struggles. Additionally, burnout leads to job dissatisfaction. Dissatisfied professionals engage in early termination of employment, expression of negative feelings toward their patients, and provide inadequate services (Fleury et al., 2018).
It is essential that MHPs can recognize and control negative emotions in the workplace (Chang & Shin, 2021). Practicing mindfulness through therapeutic journaling will improve job satisfaction and patient care. Professionals who experience work satisfaction are noted to provide better care, make better decisions, and ultimately improve care (Fleury et al., 2018). MHPs are an important group to implement this practice with. Many clinicians do not often seek help due to fear of being stigmatized, discriminated against, or lack of confidentiality (Patel et al., 2021).
MHPs must be able to utilize coping skills to maintain their own mental health. Lack of mindfulness, anxiety, depression, burnout, and high-pressure working environments are recognized as variables that affect the mental well-being of clinicians (Patel et al., 2021). Educating and implementing a therapeutic writing program for MHPs working in the correctional setting offers the opportunity to demonstrate the efficacy of therapeutic writing as a mindfulness skill to mitigate stress and burnout. Targeting MHPs in this project is intended to generate a practice change for these professionals. This project is aimed at boosting therapeutic writing and mindfulness as a regular practice for MHPs in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
