Mindful Self-Compassion 8 Week course, Spring

Mindful Self-Compassion 8-week course, Evening 

taught by Yaffa Maritz, LMHC and Blair Carleton

Course Description

Mindful Self-Compassion or “MSC” is a well-researched and effective 8-week program developed by Drs. Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. This class helps participants the habits of being kinder to ourselves and others and living with more ease and well-being in our daily life. Mindful self-compassion is a first step in emotional healing. We learn to be-friend oneself and acknowledge our difficult thoughts and feelings with a spirit of openness, curiosity and love, rather than self-judgment, or self-criticism. In the weekly program, participants will learn through activities such as meditation, experiential exercises, short presentations, group discussion and home practices. Learning is mostly experiential and includes current theory and research on self-compassion. 

Research has shown that self-compassion greatly enhances emotional well-being. It boosts resilience, happiness, reduces anxiety and depression, and can even help maintain healthy lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise. Mindful self-compassion can be learned by anyone. It's the practice of recognizing moments of difficulty, and repeatedly evoking good will toward ourselves. It extends cultivation of that same desire beyond ourselves to all living beings to live happily and free from suffering.

Perhaps most importantly, cultivating self-compassion allows one to honor and accept our humanness. Things will not always go the way we want them to. We often encounter frustrations and losses. We make mistakes and bump up against our limitations, or fall short of our ideals. This is the human condition, a reality shared by us all. The more we open our heart to this reality instead of constantly fighting against it, the more we will be able to feel compassion for ourselves and all of our fellow humans. 

Course Fees

$370.00: Regular registration

$375.00: Registration with clock hours or a certificate of completion to use for CEUs

Required Workbook

Participants are required to purchase a workbook, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook available online or at your favorite book store. Prices range from about $10-$19 depending on the store. 

UW Affiliate Discount

20% off for UW faculty and staff - must register with UW email address and provide department name, office, and position. 

If you are interested in financial assistance:

1.  Income-based reduced fee of $275, available to individuals with an annual household income from all sources of $60,000 or less. For more details, please email ccfwb@uw.edu

Continuing Education Credits 

Pay $5 extra at registration to receive a Certificate of Completion for up to 24 credit hours for licensed psychologists, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and social workers  in Washington State.  Please note: the fee increases to $20 if you request credit hours or clock hours AFTER the course begins. We cannot guarantee that these CEUs will be accepted in other states. 

Class Schedule

8 Week course: Thursdays from 6:00pm - 8:30pm, March 12 - April 30, 2020

Retreat: April 18, 2020 1:00-5:00pm

**Please be prepared for the first and last classes to go 15 minutes longer. 

About the Instructors

Yaffa Maritz, LMHC, is a co-founder of Listening Mothers and clinical director of both Listening Mothers and Reflective Parenting, two research-based parenting programs. She is the founder and director of the Community of Mindful Parenting. Yaffa was born and trained in Isreal as a clinical psychologist. She is also a licensed mental health counselor with advanced training in infant mental health. She is an advocate for the well-being of children and their families and served on local and national boards that promote this agenda, including the Governor's Commission for Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention. Yaffa believes that by supporting parents and creating nurturing communities for them, we can set the foundation for the positive growth of children's social, emotional and mental health. 

Yaffa participated in the Stanford Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) a year-long teachers training offered through Stanford's Center for Compassion, Altruism, Research and Education. She also completed the advanced training program for Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) with Drs. Kristin Neff and Chris Germer. 

Blair Carleton is a Recovery Coach trained by Washington State and the Connecticut Center for Addiction Recovery (CCAR).  She received her MSC Teacher Certificate from UCSD’s Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.  Blair studied Shame-Resilience with Brene Brown and went on to teach the curriculum just as Dr. Brown’s first TED talk went viral.  But it was after a weekend workshop at CCFW that she fell head over heels in love with Dr. Kristin Neff’s pioneering research on Self-Compassion.  Blair studied with both founders of Mindful Self-Compassion, Dr. Neff and Dr. Chris Germer, a clinician at Harvard Medical School.  She received her B.A. from Yale University.

Blair has taught MSC to all walks of life: every single time she teaches, she is filled with gratitude to watch people enhance their own lives before her very eyes. She credits her beloved practice of Mindfulness to her teachers: Dr. Keesha Ewers, Ajayan Borys, Sylvia Boorstein, and Joel and Michelle Levey. She is tickled pink to be teaching with Yaffa Maritz, her friend, colleague, and the one who taught her 8-week MSC course at CCFW.  Find out more at: http://cultivatingselfcompassion.com/

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