MINDFULNESS-BASED AND COMPASSION-ORIENTED PSYCHOTHERAPY

Practicing mindfulness involves paying purposeful attention to our present-moment experience without judgment. When we notice our thoughts and feelings without judging them, without trying to avoid them or push them away, and without being caught up in them or overwhelmed by them, we have an opportunity to see what is happening clearly. With mindfulness, we can interrupt our habitual or "auto-pilot" reactions, access our own personal wisdom, identify what we truly need and choose actions that support well-being.

As we turn toward difficult internal experience, compassion helps us to hold what we meet there without being overwhelmed by or re-traumatized by what we are working through. Compassion is a quality that acknowledges and cares deeply about suffering, and that holds a heartfelt wish and committed intention to move things in the direction of less suffering. As we practice self-compassion, we acknowledge our own internal suffering, bring great care and consideration to the pace and tone with which we work through it, and clarify what intentions, changes, or strategies will help us to move in the direction of suffering less.

As a Mindfulness-based and Compassion-oriented psychotherapist, I help my clients to cultivate skills in mindfulness and self-compassion and apply these skills to the difficulties they are facing in their lives.