Live Online MSC

Natalie Bell, PT, CMF is Associate Executive Director (AED) for public programs at CMSC. She works with the ED to provide planning, vision, development and direction of public programs and events. Natalie directs the Live Online Mindful Self-Compassion (LOMSC) program and co-developed the Teaching Self-Compassion Online teacher training to help MSC teachers cultivate safety and embodied presence online. Natalie worked in hospitals for 17 years as a Physical Therapist and Director of Rehabilitation and helped Kristin Neff and Chris Germer develop the Self Compassion Training for Healthcare Communities (SCHC) program which she now directs as lead teacher trainer. Natalie founded Mindful Wellness, a mindfulness training and coaching business, is a mindfulness teacher for UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, and served as the Director of corporate mindfulness programs for Unplug Meditation in Los Angeles, Ca. She has been teaching globally as a certified mindfulness and MSC teacher and trainer. She loves to practice the art of savoring in nature, to hike, swim, and dance to embody these transformative practices.

Marta Alonso is Licensed Clinical Psychologist specialized in mindfulness and compassion treatments and European Expert in Psychotherapy by the EFPA having obtained Europsy certification. She is MSC Teacher Trainer and Mentor and the first certified teacher in the Spanish language. She has taught more than 40 MSC courses, which she introduced in Spain. She is a founding member of the Spanish Association of Mindfulness and Compassion and has been its president until 2017, and is currently a member of the honorary council.

Sydney Spears, Ph.D., LCSW is a certified Mindful-Self Compassion teacher and Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for the Center of Mindful Self-Compassion. She also works part-time at the University of Kansas-School of Social Welfare specializing in teaching diversity, anti-oppression, social justice and clinical social work courses. Sydney has deep passion for advancing social equity for racialized people and all other underserved populations experiencing systemic injustices. Additionally, Sydney is highly committed to providing and integrating anti-oppressive and trauma-sensitive practices within her psychotherapy practice as a licensed clinical social worker. Her counseling service specializes in working with survivors of chronic stress and trauma generated from family relationships and sociocultural trauma.

Kristy Arbon, BA, BSW, has been working with the developers of the MSC program, Chris Germer and Kristin Neff, since the inception of CMSC in 2012. She adapted MSC for the online environment and created LOMSC in 2015. She teaches self-compassion courses online and in person in the US, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and BhutanKristy is very passionate about self-compassion study and practice. She writes about her experiences of mindfulness and self-compassion practice on her website, www.kristyarbon.com. She runs a number of online self-compassion study and practice support programs for the general public and for professionals.She is delighted to have this opportunity to connect around self-compassion practice with people who may otherwise not be able to access an MSC group. You can email Kristy at [email protected]

Joel Grow, Ph.D is a clinical psychologist at the Seattle Mindfulness Center. He was part of the development team for the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) program, and he continues to lead MBRP groups and professional workshops. He is also a trained teacher in Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and continues to lead MSC groups several times per year. Along with Martin Thomson-Jones, he helped pioneer online MSC groups for men. His background includes providing behavioral health care and trainings/workshops in community agencies, VA and private hospitals, specialized medical settings, corporations, and government agencies. Before graduate school, Joel spent 6 years as a software engineer and in-house trainer/instructor at Amazon.com. He also co-developed and was lead instructor for a 9-month University of WA certificate program for 9 years, and was awarded the UW “Award of teaching excellence”.

Christine Grace McMulkin, MSW RSW, MSc is a Certified Teacher of Mindful Self Compassion and is grateful to join the LOMSC Faculty and to have been trained by the founders of the approach, Kristen Neff and Christopher Germer. Christine is also a member of the Faculty of the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto and teaches the full Mindful Self Compassion program through the Centre, as well as within her role as a Mental Health Counsellor within a Medical Centre Family Health Team. She is also a Trained Facilitator of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Christine founded Christine Grace and Community in 2000 and her offerings include Mindfulness, Self Care and Self Compassion conversations and sessions. She is deeply invested in her own practice and has been engaged in meditation and mindfulness for many years. Christine has developed and delivered web-based courses and appreciates the ease of access that the online platform can offer. Christine delights in connecting with participants around the globe.

Jamie Lynn Tatera has been practicing mindful awareness and meditation for the past twenty years, and she has been teaching mindfulness to others since 2008. Her self-compassion journey began when she discovered that her daughter, who had exceptional needs, needed tenderness more than mindfulness. Jamie Lynn teaches self-compassion to caregivers because experience has taught her that when we treat ourselves with kindness, we have more to offer the people we care about most. Jamie Lynn is a former elementary school teacher, and she has taught mindfulness and self-compassion to educators and children, at universities, and in her private work with families. She is both an author as well as the founder of Wholly Mindful, an organization that offers mindfulness, communication, and self-compassion training to individuals and families. You can read her mindfulness related blogs or view her self-compassion videos at www.whollymindful.com. Jamie Lynn is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher, and she enjoys teaching Mindful Self-Compassion both in person as well as live-online. In addition to teaching the traditional Mindful Self-Compassion program and the Self-Compassion program for healthcare providers, Jamie Lynn also teaches Mindful Self-Compassion for teens (Making Friends with Yourself). Jamie Lynn is forever growing both as a student and a teacher, and she delights in sharing the journey of self-compassion and self-discovery with others.

Dr. Caroline Hoffman OAM, PhD, RN, BSW grew up in Australia and holds a lifelong passion for living a happy and awakened life, starting her own practice of yoga and meditation in earnest in 1975 after a seriously illness. Caroline started practicing mindfulness in 1992 and trained to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts in 2004 and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) in 2016. She became a certified MSC teacher early in 2019. Caroline is Clinical and Research Director for the UK charity Breast Cancer Haven, and offers additional mindfulness training to individuals and corporates. She has a degree in Social Work from the University of Melbourne, is a registered intensive care nurse. She published her PhD research evaluating MBSR in women affected by breast cancer in The Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2012. In 2016, Caroline completed additional training courses in Mindfulness Approaches Teacher Supervision and supervises mindfulness teachers. Caroline has been a pioneer in practicing, teaching and researching integrative medicine since the late 1980s and is trained to a professional level in a number of complementary therapies including acupuncture. She has published extensively in peer reviewed journals. Caroline loves spending time in, on or by the sea or any other form of nature. She holds the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to breast cancer.

Megan Prager is Co-Founder of Mindful Labs and Compassion Programs Director at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness.

Megan is a Certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Instructor (MBSR), a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor (MSC), a Certified Compassion Cultivation Instructor (CCT), an Adjunct Faculty member at San Diego State University, and a Lecturer at UC San Diego Rady Business School. She is also a Teacher Trainer and Mentor for the UC San Diego Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute as well as a Mentor and Practicum Teacher Trainer for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. In addition to teaching Mindfulness-based programs,

Megan specializes in developing and delivering mindfulness trainings for Fortune 500 companies as well as for educational, healthcare, and academic settings. She is currently collaborating with Universities to establish and instruct Mindfulness and Compassion courses at the collegiate level. In all her ventures, Megan’s passion and mission are the same: to empower individuals with an understanding of the important role they play in shaping their lives and well being. Megan believes through compassionate awareness individuals are able to utilize one of the best resources they have: themselves.

Laila Narsi, LCSW, CMMT, CMT-P, is the Co-Coordinator for the CMSC Circles of Practice Public Offering as well as a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher receiving her training directly from founders Drs. Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer in 2014. Since receiving her Master’s in Social Work in 1997, her passion to provide sound and effective mental health services led her to create The Mindful Self, which is a center for Trauma Informed Psychotherapy as well as Mindfulness and Self-Compassion offerings. Laila a is Certified in EMDR Therapy and is an EMDR Approved Consultant where she specializes in PTSD, Complex trauma, Stress, Mood disorders, and Anxiety.
Laila’s journey in meditation started in childhood where she was mentored by her parents who nurtured a family meditation and movement practice. Since college, she has travelled around the world working with several teachers cultivating her interests in mindfulness, diversity, cultural studies, human rights, and international arts. Laila has also accompanied Dr. Germer in Kenya bringing MSC to other trauma specialists. She returned there a couple of years later to co-teach a Making Friends With Yourself (MSC for Teens) intensive course. In addition, she has been directly trained and mentored by Drs. Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Sharon Salzberg, and Steve Hickman.

RoseMina Munjee, RP, MBCT, MBSR, MSC, MBA, BMath, CYT, CST, AMM-Mind, MPS candidate. RoseMina Munjee is a Registered Psychotherapist in private practice, experienced mindfulness teacher, mentor, corporate trainer, craniosacral practitioner, and restorative/therapeutic yoga teacher. She teaches at the Center for Mindfulness Studies, Center for Mindful Self Compassion, University of Toronto, MGC, and is a managing director at Mindful Wellness and several corporations. RoseMina facilitates evidence-based mindfulness programs including MBSR, MBCT and MSC. She also has a private practice and does clinical work in health-care and public health settings in trauma informed care, mindfulness and psychotherapy. Her focus is on trauma informed care, somatic, affective, neuroscience-based practices including craniosacral techniques, social justice, and cultivating greater diversity, inclusivity and belonging for marginalized populations. RoseMina also writes about mindfulness, trauma informed care and social justice related topics and she is a Master’s student at University of Toronto in Spiritual Care (MPS – Buddhist Studies and Psychotherapy, with a focus on mindfulness). She can be reached at [email protected]

Luis Gregoris de la Fuente works as psychologist and is teaching groups of mindfulness practice in different settings since 2008 in Global-C (www.globalc.es ); every year he usually teaches 6 fortnightly groups (21 sessions) about the practice of mindfulness and compassion. Furthermore, He is promoting Mindfulness and Compassion practices within the workplace (www.meetmindfulness.es ). Besides, since 2012 he is teaching Mindfulness within the “Emotional Intelligence Master” (online edition) of the University of Valencia. Now he is collaborating with CMSC and Marta Alonso translating the Spanish resources for MSC teachers and helping in the Spanish Teacher Training organization http://msc.mindfulness.global/msc-tt-2019-madrid/ He has been working together with M. Alonso and V. Simon (pioneers of MSC in Spain) since the early steps of the MSC Spanish version, translating the MSC teachings, and helping with the website www.mindfulnessyautocompasion.com in which he is answering all the questions of the web visitors. His commitment with the MSC has been growing since 2012, so he is sharing his own self-compassion practicing experience, in order to spread the benefits of these amazing teachings to all the people who are suffering nowadays: www.sertumejoramigo.com

General Registration Fee: $575

Early Bird or Intro Session discount: $475

Special Compassionate Discount: $375

Due to these challenging times we are offering a Special Compassionate Discount of $200 off of LOMSC. For those who can afford to, please consider paying at the full rate of $575, or the Intro session discount of $475 to help support scholarships for those in need. We hope to be of support to you learning the powerful practices of MSC in a compassionate community. DISCOUNT CODE for compassionate discount: COMPASSIONMSC – please use “General Registration” and then add this code to pay $375. If you want to get CEs please use the following code COMPASSIONMSC+CES

We offer a different rate for participants living in certain countries taking into account Local Purchasing Power. Participants in the following countries can register for US $350: • Central & South America & The Caribbean (excluding Chile) • South East Asia (excluding Singapore and Malaysia) • Eastern Europe • Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal • Africa (excluding South Africa)

Free 1-hour information session here. You can receive $100 off the full registration fee of $575 for coming to the Introductory Session (when not using the Early Bird discount or the Compassionate Discount). To register for the class just choose the “General Registration + Intro Session” option.  Please note you can register for the class before attending the intro session.