Christopher Germer
is a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and a
founding member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy.
Mindful self-compassion is the foundation of
emotional healing - being aware in the present moment when we're
struggling with feelings of inadequacy, despair, confusion, and other
forms of stress (mindfulness) and responding with kindness and
understanding (self-compassion).
To build a culture of empathy and compassion, Chris says
we need to have a societal discussion about what values are really
important to us. They did this in Bhutan where they have the
"gross national happiness" index. Also, that we need to develop
extensive empathy and compassion trainings. He said, the average
American watches TV for 4 hours a day. What if we used that time
learning about empathy and compassion? What a different world it would
be.
Sub Conference: Science
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Self-Compassion Expert Chris Germer on Lessons Learned From the Dalai
Lama
Every
now and then, you meet someone who changes your world. For me, that most
recent someone is a remarkably wise and compassionate colleague,
Christopher Germer. Germer is a Harvard Medical School Clinical
Instructor in Psychology and a founding member of the Institute for
Meditation and Psychotherapy, a non-profit organization dedicated to the
education and training of mental health professionals interested in
integrating mindfulness meditation and psychotherapy.
Truthfully, Germer is more than a colleague, he's a mentor. The good
psychologist not only ignited my interest in all things
self-compassionate, he re-ignited my passion for book-writing. He's got
that kind of inspirational effect on people.
