Kristin Neff, PhD

Kristin Neff, PhD, is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion nearly twenty years ago, and is the author of the best-selling book Self-Compassion. She has been recognized as one of the most influential researchers in psychology worldwide. Along with her colleague Chris Germer, she developed the Mindful Self-Compassion program, taught internationally, and co-wrote The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook. Her newest book is Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive. 

• Visit Kristin's website
• Visit the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion

Christopher Germer, PhD

Chris Germer, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 and they wrote two books, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program. MSC has been taught to over 200,000 people worldwide. Dr. Germer is also the author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion; he co-edited two influential volumes on therapy, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy; and he maintains a small psychotherapy practice in Massachusetts, USA.

• See Chris' website
• Visit the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion

Galia Tyano Ronen

Galia Tyano Ronen loves life on earth with all it brings into her soul and the diversity of connections with people, nature, arts, body, music, and spirit. Galia is a Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher and serves as the Program Director for the Self-Compassion In Psychotherapy (SCIP) Certificate Program. She is a focusing oriented therapist, artist, and clinical psychologist walking a path, accompanying people over a section of their lives and incorporating mind body spirit work in her encounters. Galia is pioneering Mindful Self-Compassion in Israel, mentoring Hebrew speaking MSC teachers and creating a bilingual Arab Jews MSC course. With her local community, she creates culture festivals based on the generosity, togetherness, free will, spirit, and the talent of citizens.

Learn more at www.shiluv-bodymind.co.il and https://www.themagicalchildrenoflight.com

• Visit Shi Luv Body Mind
• Visit The Magical Children of Light

Pamela Ayo Yetunde, JD, ThD

Pamela Ayo Yetunde, ThD, is a pastoral counselor, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy (SIP) instructor, co-founder of Center of the Heart, and the author of books and articles on pastoral care and chaplaincy. She is the author of Object Relations, Buddhism, and Relationality in Womanist Practical Theology; Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, U.S. Law, and Womanist Theology for Transgender Spiritual Care; and co-editor of Black and Buddhist. Her new book, Casting Indra’s Net: Wisdom for Fostering Spiritual Kinship, Respecting Difference, and Moving toward Wholeness Together will be released by Shambhala Publications in 2023.

• Visit the Center of the Heart
• See her book Object Relations, Buddhism, and Relationality in Womanist Practical Theology

Chris Willard, PsyD

Christopher Willard, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, author, and consultant based in Massachusetts. He has been invited to more than two dozen countries to speak, and has presented at two TEDx events. He is the author of 20 books, including Alphabreaths; Growing Up Mindful; and How we Grow Through What We Go Through. His thoughts on mental health have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, cnn.com, and elsewhere. He teaches at Harvard Medical School. Find him on Instagram and facebook @drchriswillard

• Learn more at Chris' website
• Find his new book How We Grow Through What We Go Through

Dr. g (Claudelle R. Glasgow), PsyD

Dr. g (Claudelle R. Glasgow), PsyD, SEP, serves as healer, author, and educator. As a non-binary, queer, first-generation Being from Afro-Caribbean (West Africa/Trinidad/Haiti/American) roots, liberatory views and dismantling constructs naturally flows throughout doc’s lineage as well as the work. Dr. g’s nearly 20 years in healing is emergent and grounded in a radical existential-somatic approach, which works with the power of the here & now, somatics, creativity, and liberation. doc enjoys conversations & collaborations that bring difference across diverse streams of thought/ways of being into mutual understanding.

• Learn more at Dr. g's website
• Follow Dr. g on Instagram

Clarissa Cigrand, PhD

Clarissa Cigrand, PhD, LPC, is an Assistant Professor at Naropa University in the Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling program. She specializes in counselor development and pedagogy. Her research interests include contemplative pedagogy, teaching presence, contemplative epistemology, and using contemplative methods to develop greater levels of liberatory consciousness. She is passionate about expanding upon conventional ways of knowing; for her, this includes drumming, dancing, meditation, ritual, dialogue, interbeing, scholastic study, and finding stillness in nature.

• Connect with Clarissa on LinkedIn
• Find her dissertation on contemplative pedagogy

Lorraine Hobbs, MA

Lorraine M. Hobbs, MA, is Director of Family Programs at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. She is a pioneer in self-compassion training for teens and is co-author of Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults. Her book, Teaching Self-Compassion to Teens, is scheduled for release in April of 2022. She is Director of Project Huruma, a Mindful Self-Compassion program for at-risk families and caregivers around the world. She is a family therapist, a former clinical director of adolescent treatment programs, and is a certified MBSR teacher and Mindful Self-Compassion teacher.

• Visit the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness
• See her book Teaching Self-Compassion to Teens

Michelle Becker, MA, LMFT

Michelle is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, developer of the Compassion for Couples program, and founder of Wise Compassion. She is a mentor and co-founder of the Mindful Self- Compassion Teacher Training, as well as a senior teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training, a certified Daring Way Facilitator and a Senior Trainer at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. She specializes in teaching and speaking on compassion in various relational contexts. 

Here are some additional resources from Michelle:
Join the Well Connected Community at https://wisecompassion.com/join/
Look for the WELL CONNECTED RELATIONSHIPS podcast wherever you like to listen to podcasts or at https://wisecompassion.com/podcast/
Find Compassion for Couples courses at https://wisecompassion.com/courses-events/

Michelle’s book, Compassion for Couples is due out late 2022/early 2023 from Guilford Press.

• Visit Michelle's website Wise Compassion

Ravi Chandra, MD

Ravi Chandra, M.D. is a psychiatrist, writer, and compassion educator in San Francisco, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He writes for Psychology Today and East Wind eZine, where his longform essays are written “at the intersection of Black and Asian lives.” His debut documentary, The Bandaged Place: From AIDS to COVID and Racial Justice won Best Film at the 2021 Cannes Independent Film Festival, and is available to stream on Vimeo on-demand. (Use code “Awake” at checkout for a 20% discount.) Facebuddha: Transcendence in the Age of Social Networks is his full-length nonfiction debut, and is the winner of the 2017 Nautilus Silver Book Award for Religion/Spirituality of Eastern Thought. He also teaches Mindful Self-Compassion and Compassion Cultivation Training Workshops through his non-profit organization SF Love Dojo. 

• Learn more at Ravi's website
• Visit the SF Love Dojo
• Watch award-winning documentary The Bandaged Place: From AIDS to COVID and Racial Justice.