At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Deepen one’s personal practice of responding to difficult emotions with mindfulness and compassion
• Understand the current theory and research on self-compassion
• Identify the core themes and practices presented in each of the eight group sessions of MSC, plus the retreat day
• Develop the skills necessary to facilitate MSC groups, including how to guide meditation, teach from each participant’s direct experience and facilitate group cohesion
• Identify obstacles to mindful self-compassion practice and strategies for overcoming them
• Embody a mindful and compassionate stance toward students of the MSC program as they confront challenges to their practice

The following article and books are required references for all MSC teachers, but it is not necessary to read them all before coming to Teacher Training.

• On Becoming a MSC Teacher: A Mountaineer’s Guide to Building the Resource of Mindful Self-Compassion by Christine Braehler, Steven D. Hickman, and Christopher Germer
• Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals by Christopher Germer & Kristin Neff
• The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive by Kristin Neff & Christopher Germer

Recommended Reading

• Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff
• The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions by Christopher Germer
• Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing by David Treleaven
• Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy by Christopher Germer and Ronald Siegel
• Mindfulness and Psychotherapy – Second Edition by Christopher Germer, Ronald Siegel and Paul Fulton
• The Compassionate Mind by Paul Gilbert
• The Mindfulness Solution by Ronald Siegel
• Self-Compassion: Step by Step. CD set by Kristin Neff

MSC has been in development since 2010 and Teacher Training started in the USA and Europe in 2014. The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion hosts MSC Teacher Training in the US and oversees teacher training through a network of worldwide host organizations including:

North America
Center for Mindfulness Studies in Canada

Europe
Arbor Seminars in Freiburg, Germany
Centrum for Mindfulness in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Sussex Mindfulness Centre in the UK
AEMind (Asociación Española de Mindfulness y Compasión) in Spain
Center for Mindfulness Sweden in Sweden
ADM (Association pour le Developpement de la Mindfulness) in France

Asia
Institute of Korean Meditation and Psychotherapy (IKMP) in Korea
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Singapore
Hailan Family and Wellbeing in China

Supporting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion welcomes applications from people from diverse backgrounds and is committed to creating diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in all of its training programs.
Recognizing the societal importance of self-compassion training and the financial realities that many prospective teachers, especially people from diverse and historically underserved communities may face, we offer a limited number of partial scholarships to attend MSC Teacher Training.

If you identify as a person of color, are a member of historically marginalized or underserved communities, or wish to actively serve these populations and communities, and would like to request a partial scholarship, please state this explicitly (and in some detail) on your application form and we will do our best to support you.

Certification is verification of a teacher’s competence whereas the designation of Trained Teacher simply recognizes that a person has completed the requisite training activities. Certification is highly recommended for those who continue to teach on an ongoing basis or wish to teach MSC Intensives or other adaptations.
Trained MSC teachers are eligible to START the pathway towards certification after teaching at least 3 MSC courses, wherein they can do the Collaborative Assessment with an approved MSC Mentor/Teacher Trainer. The process then entails a minimum of 14 hours of individual mentorship over the course of teaching at least two more MSC courses.More information is outlined on the UCSD website here: https://mbpti.org/programs/msc/msc-teacher-qualification-and-certification/.

Continuing Education Credits will be offered for US certified psychologists, therapists and nurses. (Please see the list below for details.)

In order to receive CE credits, you must attend all the Teacher Training Sessions. No credit is given for partial attendance. You will also need to fill out the online Evaluation after the training completes. CE Certificates will be emailed about a month after the program completes.
Psychologists:

This program is sponsored by UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This course offers 32.0 CE credit.
California licensed MFTs, LPCCs, LEPs, LCSWs:

This activity is an approved continuing education program by the American Psychological Association. 32.0 CE credit may be applied to your license renewal through the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. For those licensed outside California, please check with your local licensing board to determine if CE credit is accepted.
Nurses:

UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP16351, for 38.25 contact hours.

Please submit the $75 USD fee when registering.

Please contact gail@centerformsc.org with any questions regarding CE credits.

No refunds will be given after March 12, 2021.

CMSC is not responsible for any miscellaneous expenses incurred by trainees. Should this program be cancelled by CMSC for any reason, CMSC will refund all monies paid.