The use of mindfulness dialogue for life in substance use disorder treatment in the time of COVID-19

Effective communication is critical for therapeutic work with individuals, for the interdisciplinary team, and for leadership in a substance use disorder (SUD) treatment program. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, over a two-year period Thomas Jefferson University's Maternal Addiction Treatment, Education and Research (MATER) program, an SUD treatment program serving pregnant and parenting women living in an urban environment, implemented Mindfulness Dialogue for Life (MDfL) to deepen communication, encourage courageous conversations, bring more compassion to staff and patients, and improve trust among leadership. MDfL focuses on three stages—connecting, exploring, and discovering—and it uses mindfulness practices to enhance communication. Here we describe our efforts to implement MDfL on a virtual platform and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected staff's work experience, as identified during their MDfL sessions.