Virtual wobble spaces: A pilot study of the outcomes of online therapeutic spaces on practitioner well-being and social work practice

Abstract

Abstract Stress, emotional exhaustion and job dissatisfaction have been prevailing issues in social work for decades, with recent research by BASW demonstrating poor psychological outcomes for social workers, amidst inadequate levels of staff retention and high burn out rates. The Covid-19 pandemic added to these existing stresses, with social workers experiencing multiple losses, including bereavements and changes to working practices. As a response to the pandemic, many hospitals and health care settings established bespoke wobble spaces, dedicated to enhancing staff well-being. However, despite the reported success of these wobble spaces, results from a literature review show that they have not been established within social work. The pilot study discussed in this article explored and evaluated the impacts of a virtual wobble space provided for social workers over three months at fortnightly intervals. The research design was purposefully creative and aimed at focussing on positivity and fun as a counter to much of the existing literature on stress and burnout in social work. The study is limited by a small sample size but nevertheless the unanimously positive findings and wider interest, suggest there may be a broader role for wobble space provision in social work.