Mindful Self Compassion (MSC)
An evidence-based program for developing emotional resilience through self-kindness rather than self-criticism.
MSC: Learning to Be on Your Own Side
That voice in your head—the one that says you're not good enough, not doing enough, not enough period—is probably louder and harsher than any external critic you'll encounter. What if that voice could shift? Not to blind positivity or pretending everything's fine, but to something more truthful: you're human, you're struggling, and you deserve some tenderness in how you meet that struggle.
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an eight-week evidence-based program teaching you to attend to yourself with the same care you'd offer a friend who's hurting—especially when you're the one hurting.
Many hundreds of studies document its effects: increased emotional resilience, better relationships, sustained motivation, improved physical health. This isn't about feeling good; it's about functioning better.
An evidence-based program for developing emotional resilience through self-kindness rather than self-criticism.
Who This Program Serves
Self-criticism drives and maintains anxiety and depression.
MSC directly targets the harsh internal voice that tells you you're not good enough, while building emotional resilience and self-regulation skills.
Perfectionism and self-criticism drive overwhelm and burnout. MSC teaches you to motivate through care rather than fear, reducing the constant pressure while actually improving performance.
After burning out, many people struggle with shame ("I should have been able to handle it") and self-blame. MSC supports recovery by replacing criticism with care, allowing genuine healing.
Self-compassion helps manage the emotional distress accompanying chronic pain—the frustration, grief, anger, and self-blame. It reduces suffering pain creates while supporting continued functioning.
Anyone struggling with:
- Perfectionism and fear of failure
- Harsh inner critic and negative self-talk
- Shame, guilt, or feeling "not good enough"
- Difficulty with self-care and boundary-setting
- Relationship conflicts driven by insecurity
- Recovering from trauma or abuse
- Managing difficult emotions (anger, grief, anxiety)
- Burnout or compassion fatigue
What Self-Compassion Actually Is:
Self-compassion is bringing that quality of care to yourself. Not pretending problems don't exist. Not avoiding responsibility. Simply meeting your own difficulty with some tenderness instead of additional cruelty.
The three elements
(from researcher Kristin Neff):
Self-kindness instead of self-judgment:
Speaking to yourself with care rather than criticism. Recognising that making mistakes, feeling pain, and experiencing difficulty is part of being human—not evidence you're defective.
Common humanity instead of isolation:
Understanding that suffering and imperfection are shared human experiences. You're not uniquely broken. You're not alone in struggling, even when it feels that way.
Mindfulness instead of over-identification:
Holding painful thoughts and feelings with balanced awareness rather than suppressing them or drowning in them. Neither pushing away nor getting consumed by difficult experiences.
The Neuroscience Behind This
Self-criticism activates the brain's threat system—same regions that light up when you're being attacked. Your nervous system can't tell the difference between an external threat and your own harsh internal voice. Result: cortisol release, fight-flight-freeze response, impaired prefrontal cortex function (where good decisions happen).
Self-compassion activates the brain's caregiving system—regions associated with safety, bonding, and soothing. This down-regulates threat response, allows prefrontal cortex to function, enables clearer thinking and better choices.
This isn't woo-woo. It's measurable neurological shifts documented through fMRI studies.
Three components (operationalised):
Self-kindness:
Internal dialogue shifts from attack ("you're pathetic") to support ("this is hard, what do you need?")
Common humanity:
Cognitive reframe from isolation ("only I struggle like this") to connection ("this is what humans experience")
Mindfulness:
Emotional regulation—neither suppressing difficult feelings nor ruminating endlessly
What Self-Compassion Is NOT
Not self-pity:
Self-pity says "Why me? I'm uniquely suffering." Self-compassion says "This is hard AND this is part of being human." Self-pity isolates. Self-compassion connects.
Not self-indulgence:
Self-compassion supports wellbeing, which includes making hard choices and changing behaviour. Self-indulgence ignores consequences and prioritises short-term comfort. Research shows self compassionate people are MORE likely to take responsibility and make healthy changes, not less.
Not weakness:
The belief that self-criticism "toughens you up" is backwards. Research documents that self-compassion increases resilience, motivation, and ability to face challenges. Navy SEALs, elite athletes, and high-performing organisations are increasingly using self-compassion training because it works better than self-criticism.
Not letting yourself off the hook:
Self-compassion includes accountability and growth. It just removes the shame and self-attack that make change harder. You can acknowledge mistakes AND treat yourself kindly while learning from them. In fact, that's when real growth happens.
Not touchy-feely nonsense:
This is operationalised skill-building backed by hundreds of research studies. You're learning specific practices that create measurable neurological and behavioural changes. The language may sound soft; the outcomes are concrete.
Not incompatible with high achievement:
High achievers often fear self-compassion will make them lazy or complacent. The opposite is true. Self-compassionate people are more motivated (driven by care, not fear), more resilient after setbacks, more willing to take necessary risks, and more persistent through difficulty.
What Happens Over Eight Weeks
Week 1 : Discovering Self-Compassion
Introduction through experiential exercises. You'll explore your current self-criticism patterns and begin experimenting with kinder internal dialogue. This week often brings surprising recognition: "I had no idea how cruel I was being to myself."
Week 2 : Practising Mindfulness
Learning to be present with difficult emotions without getting overwhelmed. Building the foundation of balanced awareness that allows self-compassion to emerge. You can't be compassionate toward yourself if you're either suppressing feelings or drowning in them.
Week 3 : Practising Loving-Kindness
Traditional Buddhist practices adapted for developing warmth and care toward yourself and others. These practices create the emotional foundation for self-compassion. Many participants find this week challenging (resistance to directing kindness toward themselves) and revelatory.
Week 4 : Finding Your Compassionate Voice
Developing an internal voice that's supportive rather than critical. Learning what you need to hear when you're struggling, and how to give yourself that support. This is where the shift from theory to embodied practice often happens.
Week 5 : Living Deeply + HALF-DAY RETREAT
Exploring core values and how self-compassion helps you live in alignment with what matters. Discovering that self-kindness supports growth rather than preventing it. The retreat (4 hours, usually Sunday morning) deepens practice through extended meditation and inquiry.
Week 6 : Managing Difficult Emotions
Working with shame, anger, grief, and other challenging states through self-compassion practices. Learning that all emotions can be met with kindness, including the ones you've been trying to avoid or suppress.
Week 7 : Transforming Difficult Relationships
Using self-compassion to work with relationship conflicts, set boundaries, and communicate more effectively. Understanding that caring for yourself helps you care for others—it's not selfish, it's sustainable.
Week 8 : Embracing Your Life
Integrating self-compassion into daily life. Creating practices that sustain you beyond the course. Making commitments about how you'll continue.
What You'll Learn
- Identifying self-criticism patterns and where they come from
- Transforming your inner critic into a inner ally
- Working with shame and perfectionism
- Self-compassion in relationships (setting boundaries with kindness)
- Motivating yourself with kindness rather than fear
- Meeting physical pain with compassion
Outcomes participants report:
- Reduced anxiety and depression
- Less harsh self-talk and self-criticism
- Better ability to handle setbacks and failure
- Improved relationships and communication
- More sustainable motivation (less burnout)
- Increased emotional resilience
- Better self-care without guilt
Fees
We offer tiered pricing so that cost isn’t a barrier to taking part. The descriptions below are a guide to which rate is likely to suit you. If you’re between two rates, we ask that you choose the higher one.
Generosity Rate: $795
For people who are comfortable financially and would like to contribute towards a subsidised place for someone else.
Standard Rate: $695
The true cost of delivering this program with experienced teachers. For people with some room in their budget for things like holidays, travel or dining out.
Supported Rate: $495
Partially subsidised. For people who are working but whose income covers essentials with little left over.
Scholarship Rate: $195
Significantly subsidised. For people who are unable to work and living on a pension or government support.
Supported and Scholarship places are limited, and are made possible by people paying the Generosity rates, and by our donors. If you’d like to talk it through, please contact us.
What's included:
- Eight 2.5-hour sessions
- Half-day retreat (4 hours, Week 5)
- Comprehensive course materials
- Hello Now app (3 months access) with guided meditations
- Ongoing teacher support
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn't self-compassion just being soft on myself?
No. Self-compassion includes
accountability—it's about treating yourself with kindness WHILE making
necessary changes, not avoiding responsibility. Research shows
self-compassionate people are actually more likely to acknowledge mistakes and
make healthy changes because they're not paralysed by shame.
Won't this make me lazy or unmotivated?
The opposite. Fear-based motivation (self-criticism) is exhausting and leads to
burnout. Care-based motivation (self-compassion) is sustainable and actually
increases persistence. Elite performers increasingly use self-compassion
training because it enhances performance.
I've been hard on myself my whole life and it's gotten me where I am. Why change?
Has it really? Or have you succeeded DESPITE the self-criticism, not because of it? And at what cost—anxiety, burnout,
strained relationships, inability to enjoy achievements? Self-compassion
maintains drive while reducing suffering.
This sounds too touchy-feely / spiritual / feminine for me.
Self-compassion
isn't gendered. It's a trainable skill documented in neuroscience research.
Navy SEALs, professional athletes, and Fortune 500 executives use it. The
language may sound soft; the outcomes are concrete.
Do I need MBSR first?
MSC does teach the mindfulness skills you need within the program. Many people do
MSC after MBSR and find they complement each other, but it's not a
prerequisite.
What if I find it really hard to be kind to myself?
That's completely normal and exactly why the course exists. We work with whatever
resistance arises with—you guessed it—compassion. No one expects you to arrive
already good at this.
Is this religious?
MSC draws on Buddhist loving-kindness practices but is secular and evidence-based. It's appropriate for people of any faith or none.
What if I have trauma history?
MSC can be helpful for trauma recovery, but
we recommend working with a therapist alongside the course if trauma is active.
All teachers are trauma-informed and create safe environments. You're never
required to share details.
Meet your teachers
Dr Adele Stewart MBBS FRACGP
General Practitioner, Pain Specialist, MBSR Teacher
30+ years as GP in Illawarra region, Chair of RACGP Pain Management Group, recognised for extended skills in psychological medicine and pain management. Co-developed Pain to Peace with Openground founder Timothea Goddard.
Why Adele teaches this course:
" Mindful Self-Compassion is sorely needed in today’s world. Compassion is not just tender and soothing; it’s also fierce — giving us the courage to face difficulty, protect what matters, and take wise action to reduce suffering."
Next steps
Testimonials
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A heart full of ability, purpose and hope. Enough knowledge and understanding to practically apply. Wisdom is in the application.
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It is a beautiful introduction to understanding my needs and offered resources for me to know how to give myself care.
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Adele’s insights are spot on. Self-discovery is a highlight. My resistance to meditation dissolved with careful guidance and tone.
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Adele models a combination of beginner’s mind, wisdom, generosity and no-drama practicality that I found extremely settling.
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A heart full of ability, purpose and hope. Enough knowledge and understanding to practically apply. Wisdom is in the application.
-
It is a beautiful introduction to understanding my needs and offered resources for me to know how to give myself care.
-
Adele’s insights are spot on. Self-discovery is a highlight. My resistance to meditation dissolved with careful guidance and tone.
-
Adele models a combination of beginner’s mind, wisdom, generosity and no-drama practicality that I found extremely settling.