
Mindful Self-Compassion 8-week course, Afternoon
taught by Elizabeth H.B. Lin, MD, MPH & Joel Grow, PhD
Course Description
Mindful Self-Compassion or “MSC” is a well-researched and effective 8-week program developed by Drs. Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. This class helps participants the habits of being kinder to ourselves and others, and living with more ease and well-being in our daily life. Mindful self-compassion is a first step in emotional healing. We learn to be-friend oneself and acknowledge our difficult thoughts and feelings with a spirit of openness, curiosity, and love, rather than self-judgment, or self-criticism. In the weekly program, participants will learn through activities such as meditation, experiential exercises, short presentations, group discussion and home practices. Learning is mostly experiential and includes current theory and research on self-compassion.
Research has shown that self-compassion greatly enhances emotional well-being. It boosts resilience, happiness, reduces anxiety and depression, and can even help maintain healthy lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise. Mindful self-compassion can be learned by anyone. It's the practice of recognizing moments of difficulty, and repeatedly evoking goodwill toward ourselves. It extends cultivation of that same desire beyond ourselves to all living beings to live happily and free from suffering.
Perhaps most importantly, cultivating self-compassion allows one to honor and accept our humanness. Things will not always go the way we want them to. We often encounter frustrations and losses. We make mistakes and bump up against our limitations, or fall short of our ideals. This is the human condition, a reality shared by us all. The more we open our heart to this reality instead of constantly fighting against it, the more we will be able to feel compassion for ourselves and all of our fellow humans.
Pricing and Scholarships
$380 registration fee (includes a 55-page Mindful Self-Compassion booklet, developed by Drs. Christopher Germer & Kristin Neff)
If you are interested in financial assistance, CCFW offers two options:
- Income-based reduced fee of $275 available to individuals with an annual household income from all sources of $60,000 or less. For more details, please email mindful@uw.edu
- A limited number of scholarships are available per course. To apply for a scholarship, please review criteria and complete the application form at https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/mindful/237140 Note: Scholarship applicants will be notified no later than 3 weeks prior to the first day of class. Applicants must wait to register for the course until a decision has been made in order to qualify.
**NEW** UW Affiliate Discounts
· 20% for UW Faculty & Employees. Use your UW email address to register, include department name, office, and position.
Please note: The UW Faculty and Employee discount may not be applied towards friends or family members.
25% if paying with a UW budget number. UW Budget number is required at registration.
Continuing Education Credits
Pay $5 extra at registration to receive a Certificate of Completion for credit hours for licensed psychologists, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and social workers in Washington State. We can not guarantee that these CEUs will be accepted in other states. Please note: the fee increases to $20 if you request credit hours or clock hours AFTER the course begins.
Pay it Forward - Support the Scholarship Fund
If you are able to pay more for the course, we encourage you to consider donating to the Mindfulness Outreach Fund which allows CCFW to offer 50% and 100% scholarships to community members to aid in the cost of registration fees for mindfulness courses. Scholarships are awarded to increase accessibility of mindfulness and compassion training for individuals who have limited resources to obtain such training and to those who work with communities experiencing adversity. To make a donation to the scholarship fund, please visit http://giving.uw.edu/mindfulness.
Class Schedule
8 Week course: Thursdays September 20 - November 8, 2018 from 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Half-Day Retreat: Saturday, October 27, 1:00-5:00 PM at CCFW
**Please be prepared for the first and last classes to go 15 minutes longer.
About the Instructors

Elizabeth H. B. Lin, MD, MPH. Dr. Lin is a family medicine physician, clinical professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and an adjunct scientific investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. As a physician researcher, Dr. Lin and her team have conducted innovative research to improve mind-body health in general medical settings which have been adopted worldwide. Elizabeth has had a daily meditation practice for 25 years. She has trained extensively with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and leaders in mindfulness, as well as Drs. Germer and Neff, founders of the Mindful Self-Compassion program. She has been teaching mindfulness and compassion for the last 7 years.

Joel Grow, Ph.D.
Joel is a clinical psychologist at the Seattle Mindfulness Center and a member of the clinical faculty at the University of Washington Department of Psychology. He offers evidence-supported treatment that incorporates self-compassion, mindfulness, and acceptance-based approaches. He was a member of the UW research team that created Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), an evidence-based aftercare program for addictive behavior problems. He remains active in the delivery and evaluation of MBRP. He has facilitated numerous groups in various settings and has conducted therapist training workshops both in the US and abroad. He also provides clinical supervision to UW psychology graduate students. Before graduate school, Joel spent 6 years as a software engineer and in-house trainer/instructor at Amazon.com. A passionate teacher, he co-developed and served as lead instructor for a 9-month University of Washington certificate program for 9 years, and was awarded the UW "Award for Teaching Excellence"
Privacy Policy
The personal information you submit to the Center for Child & Family Well-Being will not be shared, sold, or disclosed to third parties in any form, for any purpose, at any time without your authorization.
Contact Information
Marcellina DesChamps
Associate Director of Programs
Center for Child & Family Well-Being
Office: 206.221.8508
Email: mindful@uw.edu