The Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) program consists of six progressive steps.
Step 1
involves settling the mind and learning to focus it—skills essential for any form of reflective mental exercise – as well as learning to neutrally observe one’s own thoughts and emotions, the basic elements of mindfulness practice. This creates a solid foundation for steps 2 through 5, which comprise the actual compassion cultivation practices.
Steps 2
teaches participants how to cultivate loving-kindness and compassion for a loved one;
Step 3
helps the student develop loving-kindness and compassion for oneself;
Step 4
establishes the basis for compassion toward others by embracing shared common humanity and appreciating the deep interconnectedness of self and others. The phrase ‘just like me’ is used as a reminder that all people – even those who we appear to have nothing in common with - wish to be happy and free from suffering;
Step 5
deepens the ability to cultivate compassion toward others, including even those with whom we might have some negative experiences or difficulty;
Step 6
is an active compassion practice and involves visualizing transforming others’ pain and suffering and offering them one’s own happiness and joy
Instructor training for professionals working with children
The entire program is based on insights from contemporary psychology, neuro-affective psychology and pedagogy in combination with the ancient knowledge and wisdom that lies at the heart of meditation traditions. The training programme will run over two years, and will consist of nine 4-day residential workshop modules, comprising a total of 36 days.
2-year course
Module 1: Introduction to working with the natural competences
Module 2: The connection between the work with the natural competences....
Module 3: Continuing work with exercises associated with the natural competences, ....
Module 4: Working with exercises associated with the natural competences, ....
Module 5: Retreat. Focus will be on the participants’ own personal-professional development. ....
Module 6: How to use the exercises and the relational competence when being together with children and young people who have experienced or are experiencing grief and loss? ....
Module 7: How to use the exercises when you work with children or young people with special needs and challenges? ....
Module 8: Training in how to transmit the values and the exercises to parents and colleagues. ....
Module 9: Evaluation of the personal – professional goals. Conclusion of the training programme....
This book describes the five core practices of Compassionate Listening and offers ways to practice them through a combination of theory, exercises and take-away suggestions. This 85-page book is divided into the following chapters:
The ability to understand what someone is feeling” – that’s the textbook definition of empathy. But when put into practice, empathy means a whole lot more.
It means the ability to grasp the many sides of today’s complex problems and the capacity to collaborate with others to solve them; it means being as good at listening to the ideas of others as articulating your own; it means being able to lead a team one day, and participate as a team member the next.
In today’s rapidly changing world, empathy is critical to our success – at home, at school, and in the workplace
. By completing this free course, you will gain practical tips and ideas from 60 leading elementary schools, 21 social entrepreneurs, and leading experts from across the Ashoka network on how to instill empathy in children, preparing them for the world ahead
2. Audio- or Video-Taping of Encounters with Patients:
3. Exposure to Role Models:
4. Role Playing (Aging Games):
5. Shadowing a Patient (Patient Navigator):
6. Hospitalization Experiences:
7. The Study of Literature and the Arts:
8. Improving Narrative Skills:
9. Theatrical Performances:
10. Balint Method:
"Empathy has been considered as far too important to be taught only to health professionals (Ivey, 1971; 1974). Others have suggested that the capacity for empathy in people in general can serve as a foundation for building interpersonal relationships that have a buffering effect against stress and can be an essential step in conflict resolution (Kremer & Dietzen, 1991). As the author has noted "empathy can be viewed as a remedy for the psyche and soul of human kind...And may be it can serve as a means of achieving a global peace here, there, everywhere on earth."
To enhance empathic understanding in health and human services, we need not only a broad reform in the health and human services education at undergraduate and graduate levels, but also in training the hospital staff, staff of the assisted-living environment, as well as health services administrators and executives. Clinical and organizational managers in health care institutions and human services organizations should develop well-designed and effective institutional-wide programs to retain, cultivate, and enhance a culture of empathic understanding based on approaches described in this article and other innovative approaches."
Murphy developed an experiential curriculum that concentrates on the use of self-care tools such as mindfulness meditation, movement, loving kindness meditation, relaxation training, and reflective journaling. It is Murphy’s hope that the restoring of these “qualities of heart” through participation in the specific mind-body practices will alleviate compassion fatigue. The format involves a weekend retreat in which the participants are away from the stresses of their professional and personal life and engage in the deep work of self- healing through experiential exercises and a better understanding of the condition of compassion fatigue.
Stanford Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) is designed to develop the qualities of compassion, empathy, and kindness for oneself and for others. CCT integrates traditional contemplative practices with contemporary psychology and scientific research on compassion. The program was developed at Stanford University by a team of contemplative scholars, clinical psychologists, and researchers.
CCT is designed to support anyone who wants to cultivate compassion for themselves and for others. This includes parents, caregivers, educators, healthcare professionals, therapists, executives, public servants, and people in a wide range of professions and life contexts. No previous meditation experience is required, although willingness to practice daily meditation is a key component of the training.
Inquiring Mind: Compassion training speaks to such a profound need in the world. How did this secular program come about?
THUPTEN JINPA: A group from Stanford went to see His Holiness [Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama] to bring him a proposal for establishing a center for research and education in compassion and altruism. After a long discussion, His Holiness made a generous offer of quite a substantial donation to seed the program and said, "
I have two requests:
Whatever science you do, make sure that it is impeccable from a scientific standard.
And secondly, whatever program you develop for teaching compassion, make sure it is completely secularized and universalizable.
When a wisdom circle meets regularly over an extended period of time, amazing things happen. People learn to trust the process; the circle itself becomes the teacher. Participants both receive and contribute to the group's collective wisdom. Individual visions emerge and coalesce into a shared vision.
Free Online Empathy Curriculum Project http://bit.ly/kwZ1Go Empathy and compassion are in such critical need in our society. We need to do all we can to promote these values in our world culture. To do this, let's create a free, publicly available, online Empathy and Compassion Curriculum which brings together the many different models, approaches and ways of learning about empathy.
Here’s a tool that will help you do that. It’s called a “User Empathy Maps”. Empathy mapping exposes user needs, offers community insights and reveals opportunities to reach out and connect with your end users which will help make sure you’re creating a meaningful solution.
The goal of this map is to identify the true needs of your user and to eliminate your assumptions so it’s best to do the exercise before engaging your user in order to pinpoint what you don’t know, and what you need to know and again after to see the difference between your assumptions and what you’ve learned...
Madelyn Burley-Allen offers these guidelines for empathic listening:
Be attentive. Be interested. Be alert and not distracted. Create a positive atmosphere through nonverbal behavior.
Be a sounding board -- allow the speaker to bounce ideas and feelings off you while assuming a nonjudgmental, non-critical manner.
Don't ask a lot of questions. They can give the impression you are "grilling" the speaker.
Act like a mirror -- reflect back what you think the speaker is saying and feeling.
Don't discount the speaker's feelings by using stock phrases like "It's not that bad," or "You'll feel better tomorrow."
Don't let the speaker "hook" you. This can happen if you get angry or upset, allow yourself to get involved in an argument, or pass judgment on the other person.
Indicate you are listening byProviding brief, noncommittal acknowledging responses, e.g.,
"Uh-huh,"
"I see."
Giving nonverbal acknowledgements, e.g., head nodding, facial expressions matching the speaker, open and relaxed body expression, eye contact.Invitations to say more, e.g.,
There is a recent groundswell of interest in empathy; CEOs, best-selling authors, and international leaders have identified empathy as one of the most important leadership skills of the 21st century.
Generally understood as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another,” empathy will play an increasingly important role in our interdependent and hyper-connected world. Whether your challenge is to build a collaborative team, become a skilled professional, or advocate effectively for social justice, empathy is a vital leadership capacity.
Empathy is not just about being “nice” and this unique course will delve into cutting-edge research from social psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Students will examine case studies of recent world events to develop an appreciation for empathy as a critical component of effective leadership. Additionally, you will examine scientific research on the role empathy plays in our day-to-day interactions and how empathy connects to sympathy, prosocial behaviors, stereotype reductions and morality. Furthermore this innovative course will incorporate acting, improvisation, and design-thinking to support students’ cultivation of their own empathetic awareness and interpersonal sensitivity.
The course will culminate with the development of an Action Plan that will promote empathy, compassion, and social harmony in students’ local communities, providing you with ample opportunity to further develop your empathy “muscle.
gives the philosophy and theory of Compassionate Listening and what the benefits, results, and outcomes can be.
Part Two
introduces the practice. Starting with basic individual preparation through inner work, one learns the basic practical steps for mastering the skills. Exercises for practice and the mastery of skills are offered. Encountering challenges is also addressed in this section.
Part Three offers ways to become more involved and possibilities for expanding this work. It includes exercises and skills for working with study groups, projects, and the broader community.
Part Four describes examples of five different models of Compassionate Listening Projects with contact information.
Since 2009, I’ve worked with the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education to develop and scientifically study programs that train compassion, empathy, and self-compassion, as well as to train professionals in leading such programs worldwide. Below are some key resources related to this work. Scientific Articles (Links to Full Text)
A randomized controlled trial of compassion cultivation training: Effects on mindfulness, affect, and emotion regulation. Jazaieri, Hooria, Kelly McGonigal, Thupten Jinpa, James R. Doty, James J. Gross, and Philippe R. Goldin. (2014). Motivation and Emotion, 38(1), 23-35.
Enhancing compassion: A randomized controlled trial of a compassion cultivation training program. Jazaieri, Hooria, Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Kelly McGonigal, Erika L. Rosenberg, Joel Finkelstein, Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Margaret Cullen, James R. Doty, James J. Gross, and Philippe R. Goldin. Journal of Happiness Studies 14, no. 4 (2013): 1113-1126.
Pilot study of a compassion meditation intervention in chronic pain. Chapin, Heather L., Beth D. Darnall, Emma M. Seppala, James R. Doty, Jennifer M. Hah, and Sean C. Mackey. Journal of Compassionate Health Care 1 (2014): 1-12.
CCARE’s Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) Teacher Certification Program is a part-time training and certification program for professionals who want to teach CCARE's Compassion Cultivation Training course. Trainees who fulfill all of the program requirements, including a period of supervised teaching, may apply for certification to teach CCT courses in their respective communities.
The CCT course is an 8-week educational program that combines traditional contemplative practices with contemporary psychology and scientific research to help participants to learn how to lead a more compassionate life. The course was designed by a team of psychologists, scientists, and contemplative scholars at Stanford University. Click here to read more about CCT.
This 3 week (1.5 hours per week) introductory online course covers practical ways that you can put compassionate into action now. You will learn what compassion is, why it's important, what you need to take compassionate action, and seven key gateways for putting compassion to work.
What is compassion?
What is compassionate action?
How do you determine how and where compassion is needed?
How do you avoid compassion bypass — the illusion that one is being compassionate when they're really creating (as author Herman Melville wrote) "a sweet morsel for my conscience"?
Where and how do you apply compassion?
How do you tell if you're making a difference?
What is the CPR (Compassion • Power • Restoration) Model and why is it important? How can the "5 bodies" model help us identify opportunities for compassionate action?
Compassion focused therapy is a psychological approach that was originally developed to help people with high shame and self-criticism, and this course will introduce you to the basic ideas and interventions that are used. This course is for you if you are in a mental health profession, for example psychiatry, psychology, nursing or occupational therapy and you are trained to form and develop psychotherapeutic relationships. Also, if you have basic counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy skills and you would like to develop your skills when working with clients who experience shame and self-criticism thoughts, then this course is for you.
Why choose this course? This course will allow you to gain a qualification that your future employers will really value, and you'll develop all the key skills and knowledge they'll be looking for in practitioners. You will receive training with experts in the field of compassion focused therapy including Professor Paul Gilbert OBE, who is the founder of the charity The Compassionate Mind Foundation. You will study this course for one day a week for 36 weeks and learning will be based here at the university, online and there will also be supervised sessions to help you to transfer learning to your own workplace. This will allow you to integrate your studying within your personal and professional commitments.
Leah Weiss Ekstrom is a Contemplative Educator whose research and teaching focuses on the application of meditation in secular contexts.
Currently, Leah is Director of Compassion Education at Stanford's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE).
Leah directs the CCARE: Compassion Training Course (CTC) professional education program as well as other educational initiatives such as the application of compassion meditation in schools "The Compassion Training Course is a nine-week program designed to develop the qualities of compassion, empathy, and kindness for oneself and for others.
October 15, 2010 - In the first of two afternoon sessions, His Holiness the Dalai Lama participates in a panel regarding compassion and the development of compassion. The panel includes many Stanford faculty members as well as discussions of programs like CCARE, which focuses on how people might be trained to be more compassionate.
These sessions and the morning ones that preceded it were part of the 2010 visit to Stanford by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His visit included this session as well as several other sessions where the Dalai Lama talked about compassion and religion in the modern world.
Connecting with Your Baby A three hour workshop for parents of a new baby or those planning to start the parenting journey.
Heart to Heart with Your Toddler – A course for parents of children from the toddler years to school age – over three Sunday afternoonsDeveloped by acclaimed psychotherapist and author of Heart to Heart Parenting and Parenting for a Peaceful World, Robin Grille…
Designed by Alice and Josette from the Empathy Foundation
Free Online Empathy Curriculum Project http://bit.ly/kwZ1Go Empathy and compassion are in such critical need in our society. We need to do all we can to promote these values in our world culture. To do this, let's create a free, publicly available, online Empathy and Compassion Curriculum which brings together the many different models, approaches and ways of learning about empathy.
OMG - Ilene you gave me goose bumps. We can facilitate kids cultivate empathy and compassion. Hopefully adults too. YES!!! Thank you for sharing your story and adding to the awareness of cognitive and neurodiversity.
The No-Fault Classroom is a quantum leap for classroom management! Offering far more than discipline techniques that move aggressive behavior out of the classroom to the playground or sidewalk.
The No-Fault Classroom leads students ages 7-12 to develop skills in problem solving, empathic listening and conflict resolution that will last a lifetime.
This course is sponsored by Stanford¿s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE).
The intent is to cultivate self-care, resilience and the strength to make a difference in the world based on a systematic approach to compassion meditation practices.
Meditation, group discussions, real world applications and current research will be explored.
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