UPDATE: EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS
For More Information and to Register Click Here:
(Please also direct enquiries to workshop organisers via this link)
ABOUT THE TRAINING:
Facilitated by Tina Gibson and James Bennett-Levy
The Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) Program, designed by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff, has rapidly gained acceptance internationally as a profound way to learn to cultivate the skills of self-compassion – for therapists and community members alike. MSC is an empirically validated program, which can be offered as a 5 day intensive or an 8 week/3 hr week program.
Our Byron workshop is the 5-day intensive version. It will be co-taught by James Bennett-Levy and Tina Gibson. Both Tina and James are experienced Australian MSC teachers, who time and again have witnessed the – at times revolutionary – value of MSC for the wellbeing of workshop participants. James and Tina combined successfully to teach the program in South Australia in 2016 and Byron in 2017, and our now offering it again in 2020. Click here for a summary of some of the feedback from South Australia.
MSC teaches core principles and practices that enable participants to respond to difficult emotions with kindness and understanding. Christopher Germer, one of the designers of this program, notes “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). Mindful self-compassion also means holding difficult emotions – fear, anger, sadness, shame and self-doubt – in loving awareness, leading to greater ease and well-being in our daily lives.”
MSC is through and through a self-experiential program. Learning the skills of self-compassion from the inside out. As a springboard to learning to treat oneself with warmth and kindness rather than harshness and self-criticism, there are few more powerful programs than MSC. While there are clear implications of the program for work with clients for therapists to reflect on, MSC is focused fairly and squarely on oneself.
Learning objectives
For participants to learn to:
Motivate themselves with encouragement rather than self-criticism
Relate to difficult emotions with greater moment-to-moment acceptance
Respond to feelings of failure or inadequacy with self-kindness
Begin to transform difficult relationships, old and new, through self-validation
Practice the art of savoring and self-appreciation
Integrate core mindfulness and self-compassion exercises into daily life
Be enabled to teach simple self-compassion practices to patients, students, or clients
Key references
Neff, K., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the Mindful Self-Compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69, 28-44.
Christopher Germer: The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, Guilford Press.
Kristin Neff: Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind
Price:
Early Bird – before June 30th – $890; Full Price – $990
Workshop prices are inclusive of morning and afternoon tea. We have found workshop participants like to have lunch in Byron cafes, so lunch not included.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
TINA GIBSON:
Tina is an experienced and passionate Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulness Teacher, having facilitated programs within the Education System, Cancer Support, Women's Health and the general community.She has a sound knowledge of health and education stemming from years of experience working with diverse populations in the roles of Kinesiologist, Health Care Worker, Rehabilitation Counsellor, Health Educator and Emergency Paramedic.Tina is currently the only Certified MSC Teacher Trainer and Mentor in Australia. Having taught alongside both Kristin Neff and Chris Germer.She currently offers MSC programs and workshops. Tina also provides ongoing support to past MSC particpants and community practice sessions.Tina is a member of the International Advisory Council for MSC and the Mindfulness Teachers' Network SA.
PROFESSOR JAMES BENNETT-LEVY
James Bennett-Levy is Professor of Mental Health and Psychological Wellbeing at the University of Sydney’s University Centre for Rural Health in Lismore. Over the past 20 years, he has developed and researched a self-experiential approach to therapist training known as self-practice/self-reflection (SP/SR). He is Series Editor for Guilford Press’ SP/SR series which includes recent co-authored books: Experiencing Compassion Focused Therapy from the Inside Out: A Self-practice/Self-reflection Workbook for Therapists and Experiencing CBT from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists. Previous co-authored books include the Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy (2011), and the Oxford Guide to Behavioural Experiments in Cognitive Therapy (2004)