WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
This intensive is for health care workers and other professional carers who wish to experience personally and integrate self-compassion into their work. Meditation experience is not necessary to participate in this 5-day MSC program for professionals. All are welcome!

WHEN?
The course begins with dinner at 6:00 pm on Sunday, September 8, 2019 and ends by 12:00 pm on Friday, September 13.
Arrival and registration from 2 pm Sunday.

WHERE?
This is the first time the 5-Day MSC residential Intensive has been offered in Estonia. You can experience nourishing and peaceful nature at countryside. Männiku Forrest Cottage is experienced in accommodating meditation retreats, offering healthy food and basic accommodation! More information about location: http://metsatalu.ee/eng/ 
The cost of accommodation covers single bed in 2p room, all meals and refreshments.

Estonia is part of European Union, EU visa requirements apply!
If you are flying to Estonia, main airport is Tallinn Airport or there are few international connections to Tartu Airport.
We will offer information how to travel to/from Airport/Port, if you are joining the Intensive from a foreign country!
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PROGRAM
The Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) Program, designed by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff, has rapidly gained acceptance internationally as a profound way to learn to cultivate the skills of self-compassion – for therapists and community members alike. MSC is an empirically validated program, which can be offered as a 5 day intensive or an 8 week/3 hr week program.

This is the 5-day Intensive, held in beautiful and tranquil countryside of Estonia. It will be co-taught by James Bennett-Levy and Anni Kuusik. James is an experienced MSC Certified teacher and Anni (MSC Trained Teacher) has been teaching for 5 years mindfulness courses in various settings. We have time and again have witnessed the – at times revolutionary - value of MSC for the wellbeing of participants all over the world. This course is a wonderful opportunity to immerse oneself in the practices of compassion and mindfulness in a secure and safe setting. The course is aimed at professional helpers to support them in their personal life, coping with professional stress and learning new skills to support others in times of difficulties and suffering.

MSC teaches core principles and practices that enable participants to respond to difficult emotions with kindness, understanding and courage. Christopher Germer, one of the designers of this program, notes "Mindful self-compassion is the foundation of emotional healing - being aware in the present moment when we're struggling with feelings of inadequacy, despair, confusion, and other forms of stress (mindfulness) and responding with kindness and understanding (self-compassion)'.

Mindful self-compassion also means holding difficult emotions - fear, anger, sadness, shame and self-doubt - in loving awareness, leading to greater ease and well-being in our daily lives. MSC is through and through a self-experiential program. Learning the skills of self-compassion from the inside out. As a springboard to learning to treat oneself with warmth and kindness rather than harshness and self-criticism, there are few more powerful programs than MSC. While there are clear implications of the program for work with clients, for therapists to reflect on, MSC is focused fairly and squarely on oneself.

5-DAY MSC INTENSIVE allows participants to learn to:

* Motivate themselves with encouragement rather than self-criticism

* Relate to difficult emotions with greater moment-to-moment acceptance

* Respond to feelings of failure or inadequacy with self-kindness

* Begin to transform difficult relationships, old and new, through self-validation

* practice the art of savoring and self-appreciation

* Integrate core mindfulness and self-compassion exercises into daily life

* Be enabled to teach simple self-compassion practices to patients, students, or clients



Key references


Germer, C.K. (2009): The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, Guilford, New York..

Neff, K. (2009) : Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind. HarperCollins, New York.
Neff, K. & Germer, C.K (2018). The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook. Guilford, New York
Neff, K., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the Mindful Self-Compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69, 28-44.

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TEACHERS OF INTENSIVE

JAMES BENNETT-LEVY
James Bennett-Levy is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Mental Health and Wellbeing at University of Sydney. His first training in compassion-based approaches was in Paul Gilbert’s compassion focused therapy in 2005. He did his first Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) training in 2012. He has been teaching both MSC and compassion focused therapy since 2014. James has recently co-authored Experiencing Compassion Focused Therapy from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists (2018), and has co-authored a number of CBT books including Experiencing CBT from the Inside Out: A Self-Practice/Self-Reflection Workbook for Therapists (2015), the Oxford Guide to Imagery in Cognitive Therapy (2011) and the Oxford Guide to Behavioural Experiments in Cognitive Therapy (2004).

ANNI KUUSIK
Anni is a clinical psychologist and she is trained in cognitive behaviour therapy and currently training in schema therapy. She began teaching MBCT courses in clinical settings in 2013. Since then she has taught 8-week mindfulness courses for public health and in various workplace settings (health care workers, government offices and private organisations). Currently she works in private practice as a clinical psychologist, and teaches regularly Mindful Self-Compassion program.

INTENSIVE IS TAUGHT IN ENGLISH!
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Approximate Course Times:

Sunday:  8:00-9:30 pm
Monday – Thursday:  9:15 am-12:45 pm
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday:  2:45– 6:15 pm
Friday:  9:30–12:00 pm

There may be optional sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.  And optional morning meditations or yoga daily.
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REDUCED PRICE until end of July 599€ + 250€ food/accommodation (no additional tax)
REGULAR PRICE from August 699€ + 250€ food/accommodation (no additional tax)

This course will have 30 participants.
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Cancellation policy

Cancellation in writing before 1 August 2019: full refund minus € 200 non-refundable administrative costs. Cancellation in writing before 1 September 2019: 50% refund of participation fee; no refund of costs for accommodation and food.
In the unlikely event that the course is cancelled, the organisers are responsible for a full refund of the registration fee, not for transportation, hotel accommodations or any miscellaneous expenses.