The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (CMSC) is a nonprofit global advocate for compassion education. CMSC was originally founded in 2012 by the developers of MSC, Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff, and is now an international nonprofit organization. 

Vision Statement: We aim to be the global leader in self-compassion training and to offer the highest quality programs to diverse populations, based upon scientific research and established teaching methods. CMSC is committed to building an equitable, inclusive, and caring global community supporting the practice of self-compassion where each person matters and everyone belongs. 

Our Mission: Our purpose is to alleviate human suffering and improve the collective well-being of the planet through the practice of self-compassion. Read more about us here: https://centerformsc.org/pages/people-and-mission

CMSC Values:  CMSC is committed to upholding the values of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in our learning, teaching and work environments. We know that diversity underpins excellence, and that we all share responsibility for creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive community. In pursuit of our values, we seek members who will work respectfully and constructively with differences and across levels of power.

CMSC, is committed to providing high-quality educational courses and programs to our participants. We understand that circumstances may arise where individuals are unable to complete or continue with a paid course they have enrolled in. To ensure fairness and transparency, we have established the following refund policy for our paid courses:

Refund Policy:

1. Refund requests must be submitted via the form that can be found here or on the online learning platform in which you registered for the course that you are requesting the refund. Complete the form in its entirety. 

Requests must be made within a specific time frame, which will be outlined in the course enrollment materials and/or the terms and conditions.

Eligibility for Refund:

Refunds will only be considered for participants who have paid the required course fees.

Participants must provide a valid reason for their refund request. Valid reasons may include:

Refund Amount:

1. The refund amount will be determined based on the date of the refund request and the progress made by the participant in the course.This determination will be made on a by case basis (e.g. if a student is half way through the course, they may receive half of a refund).

2. If the refund request is made within a specified period before the course start date, a full refund of the course fees will be provided.

3. If the refund request is made after the course has started or a certain percentage of the course has been completed, the refund amount may be prorated based on the percentage of the course completed.

All workshops and courses cancelled 14 days prior to the start date will receive a full refund minus any amount listed on registration page specific to course. Cancelled 5-13 days prior to the start date will be subject to a 10% cancellation fee.  Cancellations made less than 5 days prior to the start date will be subject to a 20% cancellation fee.

Non-Refundable Fees:

1. Certain fees associated with the course, such as administrative fees or material fees, may be non-refundable. Inaccessibility cancellation will be subject to a 20% administrative fee.

2. Non-refundable fees will be clearly stated in the course enrollment materials and/or the terms and conditions.

3. Refunds will not be given for missed coupon codes.

4. If you are removed from a course or workshop resulting from a decision based upon (including but not limited to):

comments causing discomfort to other participants

language that can be considered offensive or triggering

threatening, berating, verbal harassment and/or abuse to participants and/or instructor(s)

The removed participant will still be subject to the full cost of tuition.

Refund Process:

1. Once a refund request is received via the form found here, it will be reviewed by the Operations team within CMSC.

2. The refund decision will be communicated to the participant via email within a reasonable timeframe.

3. Approved refunds will be processed using the original payment method.

Exceptions and Discretion:

1. In exceptional cases not covered by this policy, the CMSC reserves the right to make a decision at its discretion.

2. CMSC may consider special circumstances and work with the participant to find an appropriate solution, such as deferring the course enrollment or transferring the enrollment to a future course.

Please note that this refund policy is subject to change, and any updates or modifications will be communicated through our official channels. We encourage all participants to review the policy before enrolling in our paid courses to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions.

If you have any further questions or require clarification regarding our refund policy, please do not hesitate to contact our support team at hello@centerformsc.org.

GENERAL

Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (“Company” or “we” or “us” or “our”) respects the privacy of its users (“user” or “you”) that use our website located at http://cmscsta.wpengine.com, including other media forms, media channels, mobile website or mobile application related or connected thereto (collectively, the “Website”). CMSC’s Privacy Policy is designed to inform you, as a user of the Website, about the types of information that Company may gather about or collect from you in connection with your use of the Website. It also is intended to explain the conditions under which Company uses and discloses that information, and your rights in relation to that information. Changes to this Privacy Policy are discussed at the end of this document. Each time you use the Website, however, the current version of this Privacy Policy will apply. Accordingly, each time you use the Website you should check the date of this Privacy Policy (which appears at the beginning of this document) and review any changes since the last time you used the Website.

The Website is hosted in the United States of America and is subject to U.S. state and federal law. If you are accessing our Website from other jurisdictions, please be advised that you are transferring your personal information to us in the United States, and by using our Website, you consent to that transfer and use of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You also agree to abide by the applicable laws of applicable states and U.S. federal law concerning your use of the Website and your agreements with us. Any persons accessing our Website from any jurisdiction with laws or regulations governing the use of the Internet, including personal data collection, use and disclosure, different from those of the jurisdictions mentioned above may only use the Website in a manner lawful in their jurisdiction. If your use of the Website would be unlawful in your jurisdiction, please do not use the Website.

BY USING OR ACCESSING THE WEBSITE, YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE PRACTICES DESCRIBED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

GATHERING, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF NON-PERSONALLY-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION

Users of the Website Generally

“Non-Personally-Identifying Information” is information that, without the aid of additional information, cannot be directly associated with a specific person. “Personally-Identifying Information,” by contrast, is information such as a name or email address that, without more, 

can be directly associated with a specific person. Like most website operators, Company gathers from users of the Website Non-Personally-Identifying Information of the sort that Web browsers, depending on their settings, may make available. That information includes the user’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating system, browser type and the locations of the websites the user views right before arriving at, while navigating and immediately after leaving the Website. Although such information is not Personally-Identifying Information, it may be possible for Company to determine from an IP address a user’s Internet service provider and the geographic location of the visitor’s point of connectivity as well as other statistical usage data. Company analyzes Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from users of the Website to help Company better understand how the Website is being used. By identifying patterns and trends in usage, the Company is able to better design the Website to improve users’ experiences, both in terms of content and ease of use. From time to time, the Company may also release the Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from Website users in the aggregate, such as by publishing a report on trends in the usage of the Website.

Web Cookies

A “Web Cookie” is a string of information which assigns you a unique identification that a website stores on a user’s computer, and that the user’s browser provides to the website each time the user submits a query to the website. We use cookies on the Website to keep track of services you have used, to record registration information regarding your login name and password, to record your user preferences, to keep you logged into the Website and to facilitate purchase procedures. Company also uses Web Cookies to track the pages that users visit during each Website session, both to help Company improve users’ experiences and to help Company understand how the Website is being used. As with other Non-Personally-Identifying Information gathered from users of the Website, Company analyzes and discloses in aggregated form information gathered using Web Cookies, so as to help Company, its partners and others better understand how the Website is being used.

**Users who do not wish to have web cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse web cookies before accessing the website, with the understanding that certain features of the website may not function properly without the aid of web cookies. Website users who refuse web cookies assume all responsibility for any resulting loss of functionality.

Web Beacons

A “Web Beacon” is an object that is embedded in a web page or email that is usually invisible to the user and allows website operators to check whether a user has viewed a particular web page or an email. Companies may use Web Beacons on the Website and in emails to count users who have visited particular pages, viewed emails and to deliver co-branded services. Web Beacons are not used to access users’ Personally-Identifying Information. They are a technique Company may use to compile aggregated statistics about Website usage. Web Beacons collect only a limited set of information, including a Web Cookie number, time and date of a page or email view and a description of the page or email on which the Web Beacon resides. You may not decline Web Beacons. However, they can be rendered ineffective by declining all Web Cookies or modifying your browser setting to notify you each time a Web Cookie is tendered, permitting you to accept or decline Web Cookies on an individual basis.  

Analytics

We may use third-party vendors, including Google, who use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) together to inform, optimize and serve ads based on your past activity on the Website, including Google Analytics for Display Advertising. The information collected may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. If you do not want any information to be collected and used by Google Analytics, you can install an opt-out in your web browser (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/) and/or opt out from Google Analytics for Display Advertising or the Google Display Network by using Google’s Ads Settings (www.google.com/settings/ads).

Aggregated and Non-Personally-Identifying Information

We may share aggregated and Non-Personally Identifying Information we collect under any of the above circumstances. We may also share it with third parties and our affiliate companies to develop and deliver targeted advertising on the Website and on websites of third parties. We may combine Non-Personally Identifying Information we collect with additional Non-Personally Identifying Information collected from other sources. We also may share aggregated information with third parties, including advisors, advertisers and investors, for the purpose of conducting general business analysis. For example, we may tell our advertisers the number of visitors to the Website and the most popular features or services accessed. This information does not contain any Personally-Identifying Information and may be used to develop website content and services that we hope you and other users will find of interest and to target content and advertising.

Mobile Device Additional Terms

• Mobile Device: If you use a mobile device to access the Website or download any of our applications, we may collect device information (such as your mobile device ID, model and manufacturer), operating system, version information and IP address.
• Geo-Location Information: Unless we have received your prior consent, we do not access or track any location-based information from your mobile device at any time while downloading or using our mobile application or our services, except that it may be possible for Company to determine from an IP address the geographic location of your point of connectivity, in which case we may gather and use such general location data.
• Push Notifications: We send you push notifications if you choose to receive them, letting you know when someone has sent you a message or for other service-related matters. If you wish to opt-out from receiving these types of communications, you may turn them off in your device’s settings.
• Mobile Analytics: We use mobile analytics software to allow us to better understand the functionality of our mobile software on your phone. This software may record information, such as how often you use the application, the events that occur within the application, aggregated usage, performance data and where the application was downloaded from. We do not link the information we store within the analytics software to any Personally-Identifying Information you submit within the mobile application.

SOCIAL MEDIA 

We may use hyperlinks on the Website which will redirect you to a social network if you click on the respective link. However, when you click on a social plug-in, such as Facebook’s “Like” button, Twitter’s “tweet” button, the Google+, or a linked YouTube video, that particular social network’s plugin will be activated and your browser will directly connect to that provider’s servers. If you do not use these buttons, none of your data will be sent to the respective social network’s plugin provider. So for example, when you click on the Facebook’s “Like” button on the Website, Facebook will receive your IP address, the browser version and screen resolution, and the operating system of the device you have used to access the Website. Settings regarding privacy protection can be found on the websites of these social networks and are not within our control.

COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONALLY-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION

Website Registration

As defined above, Personally-Identifying Information is information that can be directly associated with a specific person. Companies may collect a range of Personally-Identifying Information from and about Website users. Much of the Personally-Identifying Information collected by Company about users is information provided by users themselves when (1) registering for our service, (2) logging in with social network credentials, (3) participating in polls, contests, surveys or other features of our service, or responding to offers or advertisements, (4) communicating with us, (5) creating a public profile or (6) signing up to receive newsletters. That information may include each user’s name, address, email address and telephone number, and, if you transact business with us, financial information such as your payment method (valid credit card number, type, expiration date or other financial information). We also may request information about your interests and activities, your gender, age, date of birth, username, hometown and other demographic or relevant information as determined by Company from time to time. Users of the Website are under no obligation to provide Company with Personally-Identifying Information of any kind, with the caveat that a user’s refusal to do so may prevent the user from using certain Website features.

BY REGISTERING WITH OR USING THINKIFIC, YOU CONSENT TO THE USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONALLY-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN THIS “COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONALLY-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION” SECTION.

Company Communications

We may occasionally use your name and email address to send you notifications regarding new services offered by the Website that we think you may find valuable. We may also send you service-related announcements from time to time through the general operation of the service. Generally, you may opt out of such emails at the time of registration or through your account settings, though we reserve the right to send you notices about your account, such as service announcements and administrative messages, even if you opt out of all voluntary email notifications.

Company Disclosures

Company will disclose Personally-Identifying Information under the following circumstances:

• By Law or to Protect Rights: When we believe disclosure is appropriate, we may disclose Personally-Identifying Information in connection with efforts to (1) investigate, prevent or take other action regarding illegal activity, (2) suspected fraud or other wrongdoing, (3) to protect and defend the rights, property or safety of Company, our users, our employees or others, (4) to comply with applicable law or cooperate with law enforcement, (5) to enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements or policies, (6) in response to a subpoena or similar investigative demand, a court order or a request for cooperation from a law enforcement or other government agency, (7) to establish or exercise our legal rights, to defend against legal claims or as otherwise required by law. In such cases, we may raise or waive any legal objection or right available to us.
• Marketing Communications: Unless users opt-out from receiving Company marketing materials upon registration, Company may email users about products and services that Company believes may be of interest to them. If you wish to opt-out of receiving marketing materials from Company, you may do so by following the unsubscribe link in the email communications, by going to your account settings (if applicable) or contacting us using the contact information below.
• Third-Party Service Providers: We may share your Personally-Identifying Information, which may include your name and contact information (including email address) with our authorized service providers that perform certain services on our behalf. These services may include (1) fulfilling orders, (2) providing customer service and marketing assistance, (3) performing business and sales analysis, (4) supporting the Website’s functionality and supporting contests, sweepstakes, surveys and other features offered through the Website. We may also share your name, contact information and credit card information with our authorized service providers who process credit card payments. These service providers may have access to personal information needed to perform their functions but are not permitted to share or use such information for any other purpose.
• Business Transfers/Bankruptcy: Company reserves the right to transfer all Personally-Identifying Information in its possession to a successor organization in the event of a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy or other sale of all or a portion of Company’s assets. Other than to the extent ordered by a bankruptcy or other court, the use and disclosure of all transferred Personally-Identifying Information will be subject to this Privacy Policy, or to a new privacy policy if you are given notice of that new privacy policy and are given an opportunity to affirmatively opt-out of it. Personally-Identifying Information submitted or collected after a transfer, however, may be subject to a new privacy policy adopted by the successor organization.

Changing Personally-Identifying Information; Account Termination

You may at any time review or change your Personally-Identifying Information by going to your account settings (if applicable) or contacting us using the contact information below.  Upon your request, we will deactivate or delete your account and contact information from our active databases. Such information will be deactivated or deleted as soon as practicable based on your account activity and accordance with our deactivation policy and applicable law. To make this request, either go to your account settings (if applicable) or contact us as provided below. We will retain in our files some Personally-Identifying Information to prevent fraud, to troubleshoot problems, to assist with any investigations, to enforce our Terms of Use and to comply with legal requirements as is permitted by law. Therefore, you should not expect that all your Personally-Identifying Information will be completely removed from our databases in response to your requests. Additionally, we keep a history of changed information to investigate suspected fraud with your account.

General Use

Company uses the Personally-Identifying Information in the file we maintain about you, and other information we obtain from your current and past activities on the Website (1) to deliver the products and services that you have requested, (2) to manage your account and provide you with customer support, (3) to communicate with you by email, postal mail, telephone and/or mobile devices about products or services that may be of interest to you either from us, our affiliate companies or other third parties, (4) to develop and display content and advertising tailored to your interests on the Website and other sites, (5) to resolve disputes and troubleshoot problems, (6) to measure consumer interest in our services, (7) to inform you of updates, (8) to customize your experience, (9) to detect and protect us against error, fraud and other criminal activity, (10) to enforce our Terms of Use, and (11) to do as otherwise described to you at the time of collection. At times, we may look across multiple users to identify problems. In particular, we may examine your Personally-Identifying Information to identify users using multiple user IDs or aliases. We may compare and review your Personally-Identifying Information for accuracy and to detect errors and omissions. We may use financial information or payment methods to process payment for any purchases made on the Website, enroll you in the discount, rebate, and other programs in which you elect to participate, to protect against or identify possible fraudulent transactions and otherwise as needed to manage our business.

COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION BY THIRD PARTIES GENERALLY

Company contractually prohibits its contractors, affiliates, vendors and suppliers from disclosing Personally-Identifying Information received from the Company, other than in accordance with this Privacy Policy. However, third parties are under no obligation to comply with this Privacy Policy with respect to Personally-Identifying Information that users provide directly to those third parties, or that those third parties collect for themselves. These third parties include advertisers, providers of games, utilities, widgets and a variety of other third-party applications accessible through the Website. Company neither owns nor controls the third-party websites and applications accessible through the Website. Thus, this Privacy Policy does not apply to information provided to or gathered by the third parties that operate them. Before visiting a third party, or using a third-party application, whether by means of a link on the Website, directly through the Website or otherwise, and before providing any Personally-Identifying Information to any such third party, users should inform themselves of the privacy policies and practices (if any) of the third party responsible for that website or application, and should take those steps necessary to, in those users’ discretion, protect their privacy.

SECURITY

We take the security of your Personally-Identifying Information seriously and use reasonable electronic, personnel and physical measures to protect it from loss, theft, alteration or misuse.  However, please be advised that even the best security measures cannot fully eliminate all risks. We cannot guarantee that only authorized persons will view your information. We are not responsible for third-party circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures.

We are dedicated to protecting all information on the Website as necessary. However, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Personally-Identifying Information by keeping your password confidential. You should change your password immediately if you believe someone has gained unauthorized access to it or your account. If you lose control of your account, you should notify us immediately.

DO-NOT-TRACK POLICY

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. Because there is not yet a common understanding of how to interpret the DNT signal, the Website currently does not respond to DNT browser signals or mechanisms

PRIVACY POLICY CHANGES

The Company may, in its sole discretion, change this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any and all changes to Company’s Privacy Policy will be reflected on this page and the date new versions are posted will be stated at the top of this Privacy Policy. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your account. Users should regularly check this page for any changes to this Privacy Policy. Company will always post new versions of the Privacy Policy on the Website. However, the company may, as determined in its discretion, decide to notify users of changes made to this Privacy Policy via email or otherwise. Accordingly, it is important that users always maintain and update their contact information.

The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (CMSC) is a nonprofit global advocate for compassion education. CMSC was originally founded in 2012 by the developers of MSC, Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff, and is now an international nonprofit organization. 

Vision Statement: We aim to be the global leader in self-compassion training and to offer the highest quality programs to diverse populations, based upon scientific research and established teaching methods. CMSC is committed to building an equitable, inclusive, and caring global community supporting the practice of self-compassion where each person matters and everyone belongs. 

Our Mission: Our purpose is to alleviate human suffering and improve the collective well-being of the planet through the practice of self-compassion. Read more about us here: https://centerformsc.org/pages/people-and-mission

CMSC Values:  CMSC is committed to upholding the values of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in our learning, teaching and work environments. We know that diversity underpins excellence, and that we all share responsibility for creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive community. In pursuit of our values, we seek members who will work respectfully and constructively with differences and across levels of power. CMSC, is committed to providing high-quality educational courses and programs to our participants. We understand that circumstances may arise where individuals would like to request financial assistance for our offerings. To ensure fairness and transparency, we have established the following policy (as of August 1, 2023): 

:

If you are experiencing or have experienced anything that may be triggered as a result of taking this course please contact the teacher and/or your healthcare professional in advance to determine if this course is the appropriate choice for you.

What are the terms of participant removal?

Removal is to ensure CMSC provides the safest space for our participants and teachers. Please see our refund policy in correlation with any questions regarding necessary participant removal.

Scholarship and Privacy Policy

The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion (CMSC) is a nonprofit global advocate for compassion education. CMSC was originally founded in 2012 by the developers of MSC, Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff, and is now an international nonprofit organization. Vision Statement: We aim to be the global leader in self-compassion training and to offer the highest quality programs to diverse populations, based upon scientific research and established teaching methods. CMSC is committed to building an equitable, inclusive, and caring global community supporting the practice of self-compassion where each person matters and everyone belongs. Our Mission: Our purpose is to alleviate human suffering and improve the collective well-being of the planet through the practice of self-compassion. Read more about us here: https://centerformsc.org/pages/people-and-mission

CMSC Values:  CMSC is committed to upholding the values of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in our learning, teaching and work environments. We know that diversity underpins excellence, and that we all share responsibility for creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive community. In pursuit of our values, we seek members who will work respectfully and constructively with differences and across levels of power. CMSC, is committed to providing high-quality educational courses and programs to our participants. We understand that circumstances may arise where individuals would like to request financial assistance for our offerings. To ensure fairness and transparency, we have established the following scholarship policy (as of July 1, 2023):

Scholarship Policy:

Scholarship requests must be submitted via the form that can be found on the online learning platform in which you registered for the course that you are requesting the scholarship. The form needs to be completed in its entirety. 

Eligibility for Scholarships:

Scholarships are allocated on a first come, first serve criteria basis. The scholarship committee will review the candidates submitted criteria and notify the qualified recipient(s) once the committee has made their decision. Scholarships are based on financial need and hardship. The committee will only review scholarship applications submitted in a timely fashion. 

Scholarship Privacy: 

We reserve the right to not disclose scholarships recipients. We are unable to share personal, private information in regard to scholarship (see privacy policy below).

Scholarship Process:

Once a scholarship request is received, it will be reviewed by the Scholarship committee within CMSC. The scholarship decision will be communicated to the participant via email within a reasonable timeframe. 

Scholarship Amount & Allotment:

Scholarships are ⅓ the amount of the tuition of a course. Depending on the number of registrants there are anywhere between 1-5 scholarships available for each course.

If you would like to apply for a scholarship, click here.