Why do so many people seem to resist self-compassion? In this episode of the Being Well Podcast, Dr. Chris Germer, co-creator of the Mindful Self-Compassion program, joins Forrest to explore how we can work with the deeply ingrained shame that gets in the way.
Dr. Germer shares common misunderstandings about self-compassion, and they discuss the complex interplay between shame, self-criticism, and our capacity for self-care. Forrest focuses on the paradox of self-compassion: how approaching it as a “solution to your problems” actually gets in the way of it helping you out. Dr. Germer then shares the model of safety, challenge, and overwhelm, including how we can use it to guide our practice, get to the bottom of shame, and avoid burnout along the way.
ABOUT OUR GUEST: Chris Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 and MSC has since been taught to over 250,000 people worldwide. They co-authored two books on MSC, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program.
Key Topics:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 1:30: What people get wrong about self-compassion
- 5:10: Tender vs. fierce self-compassion, and the “paradox of practice”
- 11:35: Shame and self-compassion
- 17:35: Safety, challenge, and overwhelm
- 23:30: Holding ourselves before holding our experience
- 31:45: Burnout, and inner-kindness vs. external approval
- 37:35: Getting to the bottom of shame, and loving ourselves up
- 42:00: Applying mindfulness to self-compassion practice
- 48:40: Overzealousness, and clarity of intention
- 53:10: Motivating ourselves
- 57:00: Recap
Forrest is now writing on Substack, check out his work there.
