Podcast Episode #6: How Self-Compassion Can Heal Physical Pain & Transform Mental Health скачать в хорошем качестве

Podcast Episode #6: How Self-Compassion Can Heal Physical Pain & Transform Mental Health

Can being kinder to yourself actually reduce physical pain? Lower anxiety and depression? Improve your relationships? Dr. Chris Germer, a clinical psychologist and world-leading authority on self-compassion, has spent decades proving the answer is yes. Dr. Germer is a licensed psychotherapist, lecturer on Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and founding faculty member of both the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy and the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion. Since the mid-1990s, he’s been at the forefront of integrating mindfulness into psychotherapy. Together with Dr. Kristin Neff, he created Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), an 8-week program that has trained tens of thousands of people worldwide to become better friends to themselves. Self-compassion has been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress while increasing life satisfaction, happiness, emotional resilience, and self-confidence. But here’s what surprised me most: it can even alleviate chronic physical pain. A decade ago, I was stuck in a cycle of lower back pain that no treatment could fix. Then I enrolled in a clinical study at Mass General Hospital exploring self-compassion’s role in pain relief. Through daily practice with Dr. Germer’s guided meditations—simply speaking soothing, nourishing phrases to myself—the pain gradually dissolved. This conversation is personal for me, but it’s also grounded in two decades of research. We explore what self-compassion actually is (and what it’s not), why we’re often our own harshest critics, and how learning to treat ourselves with the same kindness we’d offer a struggling friend can fundamentally change our lives. In this conversation, we discuss: • What self-compassion really means and common misconceptions about it • The proven physical and mental health benefits backed by 20 years of research • How self-compassion differs from self-esteem and why it’s more sustainable • The Mindful Self-Compassion program and how it works • Why being kind to ourselves is so difficult and how to overcome that resistance • Real-world applications: using self-compassion for pain, anxiety, depression, and relationship challenges • How to become an inner ally instead of an inner enemy 🎧 Listen to the full episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 📚 Learn more about Dr. Chris Germer: https://www.chrisgermer.com 💡 Learn more about Curiously: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/prof... #selfcompassion #mentalhealth #mindfulness #psychology #chronicpain #therapy #anxiety #depression #podcast #harvard #meditation #wellness #emotionalhealth