[Video] Kristin Neff, PhD, on Burnout and Self-Compassion

Whether it’s the demands of family, work, or other responsibilities, burnout is an experience that many of us face at some point in our lives. That’s why we’re glad to be able to share this helpful video with Kristin Neff, PhD, the renowned self-compassion teacher, author, and researcher. 

In this 9-minute video, Dr. Neff offers insights into what exactly burnout is, and how self-compassion can be a powerful support for those experiencing it. She then goes on to share her personal experience with self-compassion and burnout, which inspired her to co-author a new book on the topic alongside her colleague, Chris Germer, PhD.

New Book on Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout!

Burnout happens when our work-life balance gets out of whack, usually through no fault of our own. We’re just doing the best we can. Common causes of burnout include excessive workload, lack of support, unfairness at the workplace, and moral distress. People who care deeply about their work are also more likely to get burned out, as are those who base their self-worth on their work, have a tendency to sacrifice themselves, or criticize themselves when things go wrong.

Fortunately, self-compassion is a helpful antidote to burnout, and there are many research studies that support this claim.

Recently, Kristin Neff and Chris Germer wrote a new book titled Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout: Tools to Help You Heal and Recharge When You’re Wrung Out by Stress. The book explores how self-compassion can address factors contributing to burnout like stress, perfectionism, negative emotions, lack of motivation, harsh self-criticism, trouble drawing boundaries, misaligned values, and a broken social system. Each brief chapter also provides an easy-to-use self-compassion tool that can be used during one’s busy day.

Learn more and purchase the book here >>

Upcoming Workshop with Kristin Neff: ​​Self-Compassion for Work Stress and Burnout

For those who would like to learn directly from Kristin Neff about Self-Compassion and Burnout, there is a live online workshop coming up on Saturday, April 12.

This workshop on Self-Compassion for Work Stress and Burnout will use lecture, discussion, and experiential exercises to help you learn to be self-compassionate so you can reduce work stress and burnout. Simple tools will be provided to help you cope on the job, so you can support yourself when you need it most.

The workshop is relevant for the general public as well as to practicing mental health professionals.

Learn more and register for the workshop here >>

About Kristin Neff

Kristin Neff, PhD received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, studying moral development. She did two years of postdoctoral study at the University of Denver studying self-concept development. She is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

During Kristin’s last year of graduate school she became interested in Buddhism and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her post-doctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically. Kristin is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, creating a scale to measure the construct over fifteen years ago. In addition to writing numerous academic articles and book chapters on the topic, she is author of the book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, released by William Morrow.

In conjunction with her colleague Dr. Chris Germer, she has developed an empirically supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which is taught by thousands of teachers worldwide. They co-authored The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook as well as Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals, both published by Guilford. She is also co-founder and board president of the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. Learn more at self-compassion.org