Jamie Lynn’s Journey
“Do you think I’m doing something wrong?” I asked my therapist.
“I think,” my therapist responded, “that you need self-compassion.”
Self-compassion?! I wondered to myself. Self-compassion?
I had gone to see a therapist because I thought that I had some sort of personal inadequacy that was preventing me from responding effectively to my four-year-old’s sensory sensitivities and emotional outbursts.
Self-compassion. Huh.
My therapist’s suggestion led me to California where I took self-compassion training with Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer, and eventually to becoming a Mindful Self-Compassion teacher. Later I trained with Karen Bluth to become a self-compassion for teens teacher, and eventually I created the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers program.
Indeed self-compassion was exactly what I needed – first to learn to soothe myself when I experienced emotional distress, and then to learn to be present with my daughter when she experienced overwhelming emotions.
This conversation with a therapist occurred over a decade ago when my oldest daughter was four. My older daughter is now fourteen, and she has her own self-compassion practice to accompany her amidst the joys and challenges of life. Learning self-compassion and sharing it with my children and other children and families has led to the creation of self-compassion programming for children as well as this website full of resources that can enable parents and children to together learn to respond to their emotional distress with kindness. Self-compassion can change your life, your family, and the world…and it all begins with your own self-compassion journey.
_____________________________________________
Jamie Lynn Tatera is creator and author of the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers (MSC-CC) program, the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids, and the Path to Resilience training and photo book. She is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher, an MSC for Teens teacher, and an MSC-CC teacher and teacher trainer. Additionally, she is a certified mindful yoga instructor with specialized training in the therapeutic benefits of yoga for children. Jamie Lynn has taught in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has years of experience as an elementary school educator. Jamie Lynn trains educators, families and clinicians in her resiliency programs, and she has a wealth of experience teaching mindfulness and self-compassion to adults, children, teens, and families.
Contact Jamie Lynn Tatera for speaking invitations, questions, or requests for teaching or private sessions.
