Making Friends with Yourself (MFY): Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens (Ages 12-16)

Making Friends with Yourself (MFY) is an empirically-supported program designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion in teens. Adolescence, a time of tremendous change and growth, is often fraught with confusion, anxiety, or depression. MFY teaches core principles and practices that enable young people to respond to the challenges of these critical years with kindness and compassion.

In this program, teens engage in developmentally appropriate activities and carefully crafted practices and meditations, which provide them with the opportunity to learn to navigate the emotional ups and downs of life with greater ease. Backed by research, findings indicate increases in emotional well-being and greater resilience.

MFY is rooted in the three key components of self-compassion: common humanity, balanced awareness, and self-kindness. These elements serve to open the hearts of teens to their own suffering, so they can recognize they are not alone, encourage an open-minded acceptance of the struggle they are facing, and learn to give themselves what they truly need.