[Video] Dr. Chris Germer on How Clients Learn Self-Compassion

As many in our community of mental health professionals know, self-compassion is not only something taught through formal practices, but something clients can begin to learn through the therapeutic relationship itself.

In this free 5-minute video, Dr. Chris Germer shares that therapists can help clients internalize self-compassion through what he calls the “3 Rs”: radical acceptance, resonance, and resource building. He also reflects on how a therapist’s willingness to stay present with a client’s pain — without flinching, fixing, or turning away — can itself become part of the healing process.

On Demand Workshop With Dr. Chris Germer

We’re thrilled to share a 90-minute on-demand workshop with Dr. Chris Germer on Working with Shame in Therapy: The Transformative Power of Self-Compassion.

In this 90-minute workshop for mental health professionals, Dr. Germer, co-developer of the Mindful Self-Compassion program, invites you to look at shame through the eyes of self-compassion. As he reminds us, shame is one of the most painful and pervasive human emotions, often hiding in anxiety, grief, anger, and stuck patterns in therapy. Yet at its core, shame is an innocent emotion rooted in the universal wish to be loved. When we learn to recognize shame, and meet it with kindness, connection, and mindful awareness, it begins to lose its grip.

Drawing on clinical experience and current research, Dr. Germer explores how self-compassion can act as an antidote to shame — moving clients from self-criticism, isolation, and rumination toward self-kindness, common humanity, and mindful presence. You’ll learn practical ways to bring compassion into your presence as a therapist, into the therapeutic relationship, and into client practices, including how to work safely with “backdraft” when compassion brings old pain to the surface.

In this workshop you will:

  • Gain a deeper understanding of shame including its evolutionary purpose, and how it is learned through early attachment, family dynamics, and culture.
  • Learn what current research tells us about the link between shame and psychopathology, and the close relationship between shame and trauma.
  • Understand the role of self-compassion at the level of therapist presence, the therapeutic relationship, and client-directed practices — creating an environment where compassion becomes the atmosphere of therapy rather than a technique.
  • Practice simple, safe skills to cultivate self-compassion and alleviate shame engaging in accessible, research-supported practices you can use for yourself and with clients.

Also included with registration:

  • Lifetime access to the workshop recording and typed transcript

Learn more and register for the On-Demand Workshop >>

About Chris Germer

Chris Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 and MSC has since been taught to over 100,000 people worldwide. They co-authored two books on MSC, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program.

Chris spends most of his time lecturing and leading workshops around the world on mindfulness and self-compassion. He is also the author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion; he co-edited two influential volumes on therapy, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy; and he maintains a small private practice in Arlington, Massachusetts, USA.