BackgroundMaintaining a sense of self-care while providing patient centered care, can be difficult for practitioners in palliative medicine. We aimed to pilot an “on the job” mindfulness and compassion-oriented meditation training for interdisciplinary teams designed to reduce distress, foster resilience and strengthen a prosocial motivation in the clinical encounter.MethodsOur objective was to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of this newly developed training. The study design was an observational, mixed-method pilot evaluation, with qualitative data, self-report data, as well as objective data (cortisol) measured before and after the program.Twenty-eight staff members of an interdisciplinary palliative care team participated in the 10-week training conducted at their workplace.Measures were the Perceived Stress Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the somatic complaints subscale of the SCL-90-R, the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and a Goal Attainment Scale that assessed two individual goals. Semi-structured interviews were employed to gain insight into the perceived outcomes and potential mechanisms of action of the training. T-tests for dependent samples were employed to test for differences between baseline and post-intervention.ResultsSignificant improvements were found in two of three burnout components (emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment), anxiety, stress, two emotional regulation competences and joy at work. Furthermore, 85% of the individual goals were attained. Compliance and acceptance rates were high and qualitative data revealed a perceived enhancement of self-care, the integration of mindful pauses in work routines, a reduction in rumination and distress generated in the patient contact as well as an enhancement of interpersonal connection skills. An improvement of team communication could also be identified.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the training may be a feasible, effective and practical way of reducing caregiver-distress and enhancing the resources of palliative care teams.

Distant healing procedures consist of benevolent intentions, often taking the form of prayers for a patient. Despite inconclusive evidence regarding distant healing, prayers are a widespread health-related technique. We studied subjective concepts of distant healing in 17 patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity who were given distant healing during a randomized controlled trial. We applied reconstructive interview analysis when analyzing the results. The overall theme was the tension between mainstream medicine and the immaterial healing procedure. Several components highlighted this tension: (a) patterns of legitimizing the use of distant healing, (b) distant healing and the social setting, (c) integrating distant healing into their belief system, and (d) reconstruction of effects by means of hindsight. The interviews showed that patients felt the need to legitimize having tried distant healing. They had to bear the full ambiguity of biomedicine being in competition with distant healing, though also experiencing distant healing as giving support.

Hans Bender, German parapsychologist and professor at the Freiburg University, met with C. G. Jung on December 8, 1960. The discussion was recorded, and the transcribed version is available here for the first time in English. A key aspect of our article is a description of the phenomenon of synchronicity based on Hans Bender’s concrete experiences during a drive through Switzerland to an Eranos Conference in Ascona and further on to the Côte d’Azur for a workshop of the Parapsychology Foundation in August 1960. At the same time, his mother suffered a stroke, which caused her death shortly afterward. Bender was returning to Freiburg at the time when she died. He was familiar with the stages of his return trip from earlier trips. He had intensely emotional experiences at certain places, which he, in retrospect, interpreted as synchronistic in connection with his mother’s death. KEYWORDS C.G. Jung, Hans Bender, Synchronicity, Psi experiences.