“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ”
Wissahickon_Valley,_Chestnut_Hill,_Philadelphia_(6315957018)
Current Offerings
Spring 2024
Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion (online)
The Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is a 6-week course designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. Grounded in the research of Kristin Neff, PhD, and the clinical expertise of Christopher Germer, PhD, the short course in MSC program leads participants through the core principles and practices that help us bring kindness to our struggles, and experience more connection and resilience in our lives.
Self-compassion can be learned by anyone, and provides emotional strength and resilience, allowing us to admit our shortcomings, motivate ourselves with kindness, forgive ourselves when we mess up, relate wholeheartedly and courageously with others, and live more fully and authentically.
Research shows that self-compassion is strongly associated with emotional well-being, lower levels of anxiety and depression, healthy habits such as diet and exercise, and more satisfying personal relationships.
Course Details
Mondays, April 1 - May 6, 2024 — 6:30pm—8:00pm EST via Zoom
Led by Annie Allen, Ph.D. and Maria Cimino, MSW, LCISW
Cost: $275 (regular rate), $325 (supports sliding scale rate) $225 (sliding scale rate)
6 CE hours (APA-approved) for mental health providers
More information about the short course in Mindfulness Self-Compassion can be found here
Teachers
Annie Allen, Ph.D.
Annie is a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher and an Education Researcher who studies how children, youth, and adults learn in schools and communities. She has taught on the faculty at the University of Rochester and the University of Colorado Boulder, and for 25 years has been studying and teaching about issues of belonging, learning, and communication in relation to systemic forms of injustice.
She has been a student of Buddhist psychology and meditation since young adulthood, and was drawn to meditation and compassion practices to help with chronic anxiety and grief. Mindfulness meditation, practicing with others in groups, studying with teachers in the Vipassana (insight) and Zen traditions and silent retreat practice in nature have transformed and enriched her life. In particular, practicing compassion – love that sees and feels suffering with clarity and strength and responds to it – has helped her take better care of herself and others and feel more joy and connection, especially through difficult times. She is committed to these transformative teachings and to engaging with others in these practices.
Maria Cimino, MSW, LICSW
Maria is a trained teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Mindfulnes-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She has been a psychotherapist for 30 years. Since 2003, she has been at the Women's Mental Health Collective in Cambridge, MA, with many years of experience working with the LGBTQA+ community. She loves creating collaborative relationships with course participants and clients and values creating safe spaces that support growth.
Maria’s practice of mindfulness meditation guides her in her personal and professional life. She is a student of early Buddhism and has been inspired and guided by many teachers including Mark Nunberg, Shelly Graf, Chris Germer, Kristin Neff, Jon Kabat-Zin, Ruth King, Bill and Susan Morgan, Corrado Pensa and many others. She has a particular interest in diversity, inclusion and cultural competence in mindfulness communities. Silent retreat practice has deepened her meditation practice and inspires her practice in everyday life. Her mindfulness practice is committed to steadiness, awareness and compassion towards self and others, and supports her to be present through life's sorrows and joys.
Testimonials
What participants in previous 8 Week MSC Courses have said:
"Annie's MSC course has supported a fundamental, lasting shift in my ability to integrate and deploy a number of central coping skills vital for healthy daily living. The self-soothing, grounding, and perspective-shifting techniques of MSC have become central features in more successful, more sustainable management of multiple chronic health conditions for me. Annie is enormously skilled as a steady steward, gifted at creating and maintaining supportive space for risk-taking, curiosity, and true learning at a pace that supports both integration and exploration of the material. My gratitude for the coursework, and explicitly for Annie's particular teaching style of MSC, is expansive; I encourage everyone who feels drawn to this course to attend. Far from a noun, mindful self-compassion is a powerful verb I wish the entire world could become intimately grounded in."
Greta
“I looked forward to each and every time our MSC group met! I learned the most simple tools for soothing myself in the middle of a hectic day which has been invaluable! The guided meditations are simply blissful and I just can't get enough. Annie and Anne offer such a warm and welcoming presence and did a wonderful job holding space for us participants to share about our experiences safely. It was an incredible and transformative experience and I wholeheartedly recommend this course.”
Pamela
“This course was outstanding and extremely well run - structured with a variety of materials both didactic and active, it never “got old”. As a clinical social worker (therapist), I was delighted by how much the material was both personally and professionally useful.”
Michael
“This class was alive, covering huge topics in human-sized portions. I’ve taken it twice and will probably do it again... The practices, teaching and small group sharing all contributed to shifting my awareness and attitudes. Another layer of the habits of defense, judgment and bracing for the unknown have been peeled away.”
Alisa