Jack Kornfield and Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff – The Transforming Power of Self-Compassion: A New Paradigm for Deeper Healing and Lasting Change

Love: The Essential Ingredient of Psychotherapy
Jack Kornfield, Ph.D.This conversation with a pioneer of the mindfulness movement explores how the practice of self-compassion complements mindfulness and brings new dimensions of healing to the therapeutic experience. You’ll learn:

• Why love and caring are the true foundation for the therapeutic connection and how to nurture both qualities in your clients and yourself
• How to quiet self-criticism and soften resistance to self-compassion so healing can occur
• The importance of rituals—for clients and therapists—in maintaining an open-hearted attitude of loving kindness

Jack Kornfield, Ph.D., cofounded the Insight Meditation Society, is a founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center, and has led International Buddhist Teacher meetings with the Dalai Lama. His books have been translated into 20 languages. They include The Art of Forgiveness and Bringing Home the Dharma: Awakening Right Where You Are.

When Moment to Moment Awareness Isn’t Enough
Christopher Germer, Ph.D.Discover an approach that softens client resistance and lifts the burden of shame and self-criticism, by strengthening the quality of warmth, connection, and open-heartedness in the therapeutic relationship. You’ll learn:

• The differences between mindfulness and self-compassion and how to combine them for the benefit of your clients
• How moving beyond “fix-it” therapy approaches and simply being compassionately present with your client’s difficulties makes room for transformational healing
• How to develop your own self-compassion practice to enhance your capacity for embodied, open-hearted listening
• How the practice of self-compassion repairs wounds of attachment and strengthens your client’s ability to establish secure attachments with others

Christopher Germer, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist specializing in mindfulness and compassion-based psychotherapy. He is a founding member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, and author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion.

Busting the 5 Biggest Myths about Self-Compassion
Kristin Neff, Ph.D.This research-based rebuttal is also an exploration of the benefits the practice of self-compassion brings to the therapeutic process. It gives you everything you need to overcome the resistance of clients trapped in pain by self-criticism and shame. The objections this session takes on are:

• Self-compassion is a form of self-pity
• Self-compassion means weakness
• Self-compassion will make me complacent
• Self-compassion is narcissistic
• Self-compassion is selfish

Kristin Neff, Ph.D., is a self-compassion researcher and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She also developed an 8-week program with Chris Germer called Mindful Self-Compassion, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, to teach self-compassion skills. She is the author of Self-Compassion.

Facing Our Dark Sides with Self-Compassion
Dick Schwartz, Ph.D.The practice of self-compassion is a natural complement to a “parts approach” and this conversation with the originator of Internal Family Systems (IFS) explores how you can combine elements from both approaches to accelerate healing for your clients. You’ll learn:

• To recognize your client’s inner critic, uncover its positive intent, and engage it in productive dialogue
• To engage the compassionate Self and help it achieve a leadership role in your client’s inner system
• The important role your parts play in helping clients develop self-compassion
• How to take a parts approach to enhancing your own capacity for self-compassion

Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., is director of the Center for Self Leadership, a faculty member of Harvard Medical School, and the originator of the Internal Family Systems Model. He’s the author of several books including Internal Family Systems Therapy and You Are the One You’ve Been Waiting For.

Mastering the Skills of Self-Compassion
Paul Gilbert, Ph.D.Find out how the brain’s evolutionary bias feeds shame and self-criticism and how you can help clients activate and strengthen alternative neural networks that support attachment and self-compassion from the originator of self-compassion psychotherapy. You’ll learn how to:

• Teach the fundamental skills of self-compassion step by step
• Help clients create a friendly internal voice to offer supportive “reality check” messages
• Coach clients using breath, posture, and other techniques to calm the mind and activate the brain’s network for caring and kindness
• Help relieve a client’s shame and self-criticism by supporting courage and the motivation to change

Paul Gilbert, Ph.D., is recognized around the world for his work on depression, shame, and self-criticism. He is the originator of several compassion-focused therapies and recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his many contributions to the mental health field. He is the author of The Compassionate Mind and Overcoming Depression.

Unlocking a Client’s Natural Compassion
Tim Desmond, L.M.F.T.Dip into the extensive body of research supporting self-compassion’s extraordinary healing power. Then learn how to create a positive alliance with your clients as the first step on a therapeutic journey to deep healing that lasts. Steps are presented in an evidence-based context and illustrated with examples from Tim’s clinical practice. You’ll learn how to:

• Activate a client’s sense of love and compassion with a surprisingly simple mental exercise
• Teach clients to cultivate a habit of self-compassion by embracing obstacles and difficult emotions as they arise with kindness instead of self-criticism
• Help clients strengthen the “care circuit” of their brains with regular at-home practice
• Use memory reconsolidation techniques to heal suffering from the past

Tim Desmond, L.M.F.T., is a clinical psychologist and co-founder of Morning Sun Mindfulness Center in Alstead, New Hampshire. He is the author of Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy and offers training and consultation on positive psychology and mindfulness practices to therapists around the world.