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 seventeen, 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.
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Jamie Lynn Tatera is the creator and author of the award-winning Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Workbook for Kids (Volumes 1 and 2) and the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers (MSC-CC) program, a research-based adaptation of the Mindful Self-Compassion program developed by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer. Her work helps children and the adults who love them respond to big feelings with kindness, curiosity, and resilience.
She is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher, an MSC for Teens teacher, and an MSC-CC teacher and trainer. She is also 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 brings years of experience as an elementary school educator. She now trains educators, clinicians, and caregivers to bring these practices into classrooms, homes, and communities in ways that are playful, developmentally grounded, and rooted in research and real classroom experience.
Explore the workbooks, learn about classes and trainings, or join the newsletter for free resources and support as you and the kids in your life learn to navigate big feelings with more kindness.
Jamie Lynn is also available for school inservices, conference presentations, and professional trainings. You can reach out here.
