None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This study is testing whether a simple daily self-care practice is realistic and manageable for busy health professionals — such as psychologists, counsellors, nurses, and other allied health practitioners — who often experience high levels of work-related stress. The practice, called SERF (Sensory Engagement and Reflective Practice for Flourishing), involves preparing and drinking a cup of herbal tea each day while doing a short breathing and reflection exercise, followed by a brief written reflection. Twenty-four health professionals will be randomly assigned to drink either Lemon Balm tea or Rooibos tea, alongside the same daily practice, for 28 days. Findings will help us design a bigger study and understand whether this kind of low-cost, self-guided practice could support the wellbeing of Australia's health workforce
Interventions
What the intervention is:
Both arms follow the same Sensory Engagement and Reflective Practice for Flourishing (SERF) protocol — a daily micro-practice combining mindful tea preparation, controlled breathing, sensory awareness, and reflective journaling. Group allocation determines only the tea: Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) tea in the intervention arm, Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) tea in the comparator arm.
Who delivers it and their relevant expertise:
The protocol is self-administered by
What the intervention is: Both arms follow the same Sensory Engagement and Reflective Practice for Flourishing (SERF) protocol — a daily micro-practice combining mindful tea preparation, controlled breathing, sensory awareness, and reflective journaling. Group allocation determines only the tea: Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) tea in the intervention arm, Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) tea in the comparator arm. Who delivers it and their relevant expertise: The protocol is self-administered by participants — there is no clinician-delivered or facilitator-led component. Materials (written SERF practice card, tea, physical journal) are designed and dispatched by the Chief Investigator, Dr Carrie Thomson-Casey (registered Clinical Psychologist; Advanced Diplomas in Naturopathy and Nutritional Medicine), with logistics support from the Research Assistant. No direct instruction, coaching, or supervision is provided during the daily practice itself. How it is delivered: Individual, not group-based. Delivered via: (1) a printed SERF Tea Practice card provided at commencement, guiding the daily sensory/breathing/reflection sequence; (2) a private physical journal for optional unstructured reflection (not collected); (3) weekly structured reflective prompts delivered online via REDCap. No face-to-face or synchronous contact with the research team occurs at any stage. How often and for how long: Daily: ~10–15 minutes/day for 28 days (tea preparation, SERF micro-practice, optional journaling) Weekly: brief structured REDCap reflective prompt, ~10 minutes/week, for 4 weeks Single non-intervention follow-up assessment at Day 56 (28 days after intervention ends), no further practice required Where it is delivered: Participant's own home or workplace, at a time of their choosing. All structured data collection and reflective prompts occur via REDCap (SCU-hosted online platform); no physical research site or clinic visit is involved at any stage. Adherence: Self-reported via items embedded in the weekly REDCap prompts (number of days in the preceding week the daily practice was completed). The Research Assistant monitors weekly REDCap completion rates and maintains a participant tracking log; non-completion or low adherence is itself treated as feasibility data rather than a protocol deviation to be corrected. Sensory, breathing, and reflection sequence (SERF micro-practice): A brief (5–10 minute) daily self-administered practice conducted during tea preparation and consumption. Participants engage in structured sensory attention (aroma, warmth, colour, taste of the tea), controlled breathing, and present-moment awareness, guided by a written SERF Tea Practice card provided at study commencement. This is undertaken independently by participants without facilitator contact. Private physical journaling: Participants are provided with a physical journal to optionally record reflections during the 28-day intervention period. This journaling is for personal use only; it is not collected, accessed, or analysed by the research team and does not form part of the study dataset. It is intended to support personal engagement with the SERF practice rather than serve as a research measure. Participants may use their entries when responding to weekly prompts about their engagement with the practice. Tea preparation: Participants prepare and consume one cup of brewed tea daily (one teabag per cup) for 28 days. Intervention arm: Planet Organic Certified Organic Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) tea. Comparator arm: Planet Organic Certified Organic Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) tea, selected for pharmacological neutrality with no anxiolytic, sedative, or mood-modifying properties at dietary doses. All three components are self-reported weekly via structured REDCap prompts.
Sponsors
Southern Cross University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Registered or accredited health professional (e.g. psychologist, counsellor, nurse, midwife, social worker, occupational therapist, or other allied health professional) currently working directly with clients in a clinical or therapeutic capacity; aged 18 years or over; able to read and write English; has access to email and internet sufficient to complete online survey-based data collection; willing and able to commit to a 28-day intervention period; and is a generally healthy adult. (NB No upper age limit is applied; the maximum age field reflects a platform-required numeric entry, not a study exclusion criterion.)
Exclusion criteria
Naturopath, herbalist, or clinical nutritionist with specific professional knowledge of Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis); current use of sedative medications, thyroid medications, or other medications with a known interaction with Melissa officinalis; pregnant or breastfeeding; known allergy to Lemon Balm or other Lamiaceae family plants; a Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale score of 10 or above at baseline screening; and currently receiving active treatment for a diagnosed anxiety or mood disorder.
Outcome results
None listed