On June 6th, 2025 the eamba Community welcomed Chris Germer  and Marta Alonso Maynar who generously shared their insights from practicing and teaching self-compassion, especially with regards to an antidote to shame, both theoretically and empirically.

Everyone struggles with shame, including mindfulness practitioners and their teachers.
The purpose of this conversation was to explore the meaning of shame, identify shame as it arises, and demonstrate how self-compassion can release the grip of shame. The recording of the gathering is available on the eamba YouTube channel.
Please go here for a reflection about our learnings.

For detailed information on MSC teacher training, please check out these webpages:
European MSC teacher training schedule.
Website of the Center for MSC.

___

Background

Chris Germer PhD is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 and MSC has since been taught to over 250,000 people worldwide. They co-authored three books on MSC, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program.  Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout.

Chris spends most of his time lecturing and leading workshops around the world on mindfulness and self-compassion.
He 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 online practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

—

Marta Alonso Maynar is a psychologist collegiate and specialist in clinical psychology with the Ministry of Education and Science in Spain. She is currently the Vice-President of the Executive Board of the Center For MSC.

Marta is also an MSC-T Teacher Trainer and MSC Teacher Trainer and Mentor, being the first certified teacher in Spanish language. She is also MBCT and CCT teacher. She has taught nearly 65 editions of the MSC program since 2012, which he introduced together with Dr. Vicente Simón in Spain, being pioneers in taking compassion programs in the Hispanic world and Iberoamerica.
As Clinical Psychologist she is specialized in mindfulness and compassion treatments.

She has been the president of AEMIND 2014-2017 (Spanish Association of Mindfulness and Compassion) and is a co-founder member of the current Spanish Network of Standardized Programs of Mindfulness and Compassion. She has been Global Manager since 1995, at the Center of Mindfulness and Clinical Psychology in Valencia, Spain, which she founded and there is where she develops her private practice. She also has taught several Self Compassion in Clinical Practice workshops with Dr. Chris Germer internationally. She holds the European Certificate of Competence in Professional Psychology Europsy and the recognition as European Expert in Psychoterapy by the EFPA. You can consult all of them in:
http://www.redprogramasmindfulness.org/ – https://www.msc-spanish.com  – https://www.mindfulnessyautocompasion.com/  –   https://www.globalc.es