Limitations

Researcher bias is potentially a limitation of this study. My experience informs this work, and I have used my knowledge and curiosity to integrate several fields of research, including psychodynamic group theory, mindfulness meditation and burnout in healthcare professionals in this study. As noted in section 4.1, I have extensive training and understanding in group theory, group psychotherapy, leadership and mindfulness. This distinctive perspective, informed by my expertise, is applied at each stage of the research. I work within a constructivist grounded theory methodology that includes the researcher’s perspective at various stages and is heavily present in the analytic memo writing. This constructivist grounded theory methodology structures the researcher’s perspective and makes it transparent. This is reflected in the sections on the

‘Presentation of data and results of analysis’. As Charmaz (2014) counsels, “Each theory bears the imprint of its author’s interests and ideas and reflects its historical context as well as the historical development of ideas – and of grounded theory – in its parent discipline” (p. 248).

My positioning positively supported the recruitment of interview participants, allowed for more in-depth and focused interviews, as well as being captured in analytic memos through the sequential stages of theory development. The researcher's own experience can influence the validity of the research. Therefore, I bracketed my experiences through the process of journaling and have presented this transparently throughout the presentation of data. A constructivist grounded theory requires

researchers to return continually to the interview data. It uses the interviewee’s words and meaning to inform the research while using analytic memos to build the theoretical structure. By doing so, the researcher’s experience, while a part of the study, is exposed to the reader’s view.

For this research, I provide clear targeted summaries of “burnout”, “mindfulness meditation”, and “group psychotherapy”. I examined the intersection of these subjects with a focus on the prevention and treatment of burnout through the development of mindfulness meditation and group skills. A full review of all three themes may uncover further relevant information.

The scope of this research is limited and, therefore, difficult to generalize. The sample size, while appropriate for this type of qualitative research study, does limit its generalizability. The group leaders all have extensive experience in mindfulness meditation, group theory and practice and extensive experience leading mindfulness- informed groups. This experience is considered comprehensive, while also

acknowledging it may not be exhaustive.

The mindfulness-informed group leaders explore their perceptions related to the skills developed through a mindfulness-informed group. It would require additional quantitative testing to determine if their perceptions are accurate and the degree to which such skills develop. I only explore their perceptions and not the perceptions of the students, team members and healthcare professionals in their groups.

Group leadership is a skill that requires significant training in a theoretical paradigm, multiple practice experiences over the years, and ongoing training through supervision (Gans, Rutan & Lape, 2002). I am assuming the same for mindfulness- informed group leadership, and hopefully, this research will give insights into this assumption. The assumptions I am making are based on the idea that experience is better than inexperience, and more experience is better than less experience. The definition of a “good group leader” varies, and efficacy would need to be determined over a period of time through testing. I’m assuming that the same is true of contemplative practices related to mindfulness-informed group leadership. I reason that a stable mindfulness practice is essential to mindfulness-informed group leadership and that leaders have a deep understanding not only of their contemplative/mindfulness practice but also realization through practice. This would allow a subtler and a more nuanced approach to leadership.

The gender balance of the mindfulness-informed group leaders is biased by a male perspective (80% to 20%). This was unavoidable given the composition of the universe of participants, and I acknowledge that the relative lack of female perspectives may represent a blind spot in the results that should be explored in further research. The characteristics of the sample are related to the research question and research objective, which created a limited pool of research participants. The recruitment of female interviewees was 100%. While a balanced mix is preferred, grounded theory encourages researchers to investigate the research question using the most potent

sources of available information, and in this case, there were no additional female candidates. This research required each interviewee to have extensive experience with mindfulness meditation, group leadership, team leadership and mindfulness-informed group leadership, which, as noted, they abundantly possessed.

Mindfulness-informed group theory applied to work groups is an unexplored research subject. I focus on its applicability to the prevention and treatment of burnout in healthcare professionals. Mindfulness-informed group process and theory seem to have various plausible effects, in the view of experts. I do not identify causation. Instead, I focus on outcomes that appear to mindfulness-informed group process leaders to help healthcare professionals, especially as identifiable within the categories of mindfulness and group skills. While these help clarify the potential of mindfulness-informed group theory, it might not be the only aim of mindfulness-informed group process and theory. I summarize its potential benefits and advantages as well as its disadvantages. This would then represent possible next steps of research into this branch of learning. Ultimately, I am unable to determine efficacy because this research is exploratory and attempts to understand what is happening in a mindfulness-informed group process.