Fiona McKechnie’s Post

Very honoured (and suprised!) to have been nominated for this with my colleague Amanda Mason. Great to share the work on employment we have been doing within Vitality360 and North Bristol NHS Trust ME/CFS and pain management services for years. "The wider context is considered an essential part of a mindfulness based approach, for example the impact of and support required regarding employment, childcare and finance. I don’t think it’s coincidence that the other work stream I lead is employment concerns. I personally have a strong belief (and concern) that both mindfulness and self-management need to be aware of a ‘self-improvement agenda’ that puts all the work onto the person who is struggling; there needs to be a contextual approach that works with the social and economic situation – for example, if someone is struggling to hold on to a job and manage a family, then ‘self-management’, never mind meditation without explicitly addressing this,can make everything worse. Addressing practical concerns (and empowering people to address or support by advocating) needs to be there as part of the approach" (from my book- mindfulness based therapy for fatigue management)