Anyone who struggles with shame, self-criticism, anxiety, anger, or who simply would like to cultivate more compassion for themselves and others.

You may be someone who would like to generally have more self-compassion or you may want to bring more compassion into your role as a parent, caregiver, or friend. Perhaps you want to incorporate compassionate practices into your profession.

Whatever your specific circumstances may be, you are a human being that suffers. As all human beings suffer, we can each learn to engage in compassion-based actions to help alleviate the suffering of ourselves and others.

Absolutely. As adults, we spend a large portion of our days in a professional contexts. We may struggle or suffer in those contexts.

CMT can be useful for a variety of professions. Teachers, therapists, behavior analysts, medical personnel, or anyone in the business of helping others may find CMT to be pivotal in improving the quality of their interactions with others in a professional context.

CMT can also be useful for creative professionals such as artists, musicians, and writers who face blocks around self-criticism. Further, people who manage others or who may have high-pressure occupations can benefit from cultivating compassionate minds to facilitate more flexible and caring cultures. CMT can be an excellent training for professional development in a group practice, organization, or an educational setting.

The course series is 8 weeks in total with one class per week. Each class is 2 hours and consists of a mix of psycho-education, facilitated discussions, and experiential exercises. In between each class you will have opportunities to practice some of the skills that you learned, often in the form of guided imagery or observational exercises.

Across the 8 weeks, you will learn what compassion is from a CFT perspective. You will experience the role of mindfulness in compassion. You will use body-based practices to slow and soothe the mind and body. You will use imagery to cultivate feelings of calmness and safeness. You will develop an image of your ideal compassionate other. You will develop, practice and learn how to embody your compassionate self. You will learn to bring your compassionate self to your daily life to help you and others around you thrive.

Here is a basic outline of what you will learn and experience each week during the course:

Week 1: What is compassion? Learn about our “tricky brains.” Engage in mindfulness sound and body scan practice.

Week 2: The 3 threat systems. Engage in soothing rhythm breathing and safe place imagery.

Week 3: Learn about the idea of multiple parts and “compassionate self.” Engage in compassionate self exercises.

Week 4: Learn about compassion flowing out and fear of compassion toward others. Continue with compassionate self development and imagery.

Week 5: Learn about compassion flowing in and fear of compassion from others. Begin to develop a “compassionate other” and engage in compassionate other imagery.

Week 6: Learning about directing flow of compassion towards self and fear of compassion toward self. Engage in letter writing exercise

Week 7: Learn about compassion for self-criticism. Engage in compassion for self-criticism imagery exercise.

Week 8: Learn about compassion to our different “parts.” Engage in multiple selves and self-compassion exercise. Learn tips for continuing your compassion practices and engagement.

It’s up to you! For some people, this might be the first time that you have engaged in any mindfulness training or have even considered that compassionate practices might be a healthy tool. For others, you may have a consistent practice around compassion and are looking to dive more deeply into your learning and practice.

You may always choose how much you would like to share with the group, how much you want to engage in the practices, and how much you want to explore. My hope for you is that you come away from the course with the understanding that it is truly possible to cultivate compassion. You may have “lightbulb” moments or simply feel that an important seed has been planted. Whatever you do get from the course, you will be able use it as a resource on your personal or professional journeys.

Please reach out if you are interested in something less intensive than the 8-week course. We do plan on offering other courses soon, but we would love to hear about your needs, ideas, and feedback.