Mindfulness and Compassion Grand Rounds at Harvard Medical School will be held about twice monthly, live online via Zoom, and is open to those within Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), and members of the CMC community, for free. Our Grand Rounds series has 3 main aims:
Disseminate information about new cutting edge science and impactful clinical research findings
Highlight best practices for enhancing the efficacy, accessibility, and safety of mindfulness and compassion delivery and applications for population mental health
Provide opportunities for healthcare provider self-care and burnout prevention
Not able to attend live over Zoom? All registrants will receive a link to the recording.
2026/27 Academic Year
Subject of Lecture :
Self-Compassion for Shame
Date: Monday, November 16, 2026
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm (ET)
Presenter: Christopher Germer, PhD
Christopher Germer, PhD
Topic Description:
Shame is one of the most painful human emotions, attacking our sense of self-worth. It is both a contributor to and a consequence of a wide range of psychological disorders. This presentation explores self-compassion as an antidote to shame - theoretically and empirically - examining its mechanisms of action and practical strategies for cultivating it in psychotherapy.
Presenter Bio:
Christopher Germer, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and part-time Lecturer on Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS). He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Dr. Kristin Neff in 2010. MSC has been taught in 30 languages in over 60 countries. Dr. Neff and Dr. Germer co-authored three books on MSC: The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook (Neff & Germer, 2018), Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout (Neff & Germer, 2024), and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program (Germer & Neff, 2019). Dr. Germer also wrote The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion (Germer, 2009) and his latest book, Self-Compassion for Shame (Germer, 2026). He is a founding faculty member of the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion (CMC) at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), a HMS teaching hospital, and of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy (IMP). He co-edited two influential volumes on therapy, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy (Germer et al., 2013) and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy (Germer & Siegel, 2012). These days Dr. Germer spends most of his time lecturing and leading workshops around the world on mindfulness and self-compassion. He keeps a small clinical practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts. To learn more about his work, please visit www.chrisgermer.com and www.centerformsc.org.
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
Summarize the theory and research on self-compassion for shame
Describe neurophysiological mechanisms of action
Apply two self-compassion practices to alleviate shame in psychotherapy and daily life.
Continuing Education Credits -
For those seeking CE credit, the link to a feedback form will be sent during the live lecture in the Zoom chat. This must be filled out to receive CE; credits are processed at the end of the academic year in June 2026 for the entire Grand Rounds series. CE certificates are issued after that time.
· Although these sessions are recorded, we can only offer CE to those who attend live.
· An attendance attestation form will be shared during each event
· The Harvard Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Harvard Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
· Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This program offers 1.0 continuing education credits.
· Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5444. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This program offers 1.0 continuing education credits and is also applicable for Commonwealth of Massachusetts Counseling/Allied Mental Health accreditation for 1.0 credits.
· As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Harvard Medical School is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.
Further Reading -
Joss, D., Datko, M., Washington, C. I., Tresvalles, M. A., Mete, M., Lazar, S. W., Schuman-Olivier, Z., & Hoge, E. A. (2025). Neural correlates of reduction in self-judgment after mindful self-compassion training: A pilot study with resting state fMRI. Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, 9, Article 100096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjmad.2024.100096
Swee, M. B., Klein, K., Murray, S., & Heimberg, R. G. (2023). A brief self-compassionate letter-writing intervention for individuals with high shame. Mindfulness, 14(4), 854–867. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02097-5
Sedighimornani, N., Rimes, K. A., & Verplanken, B. (2019). Exploring the relationships between mindfulness, self-compassion, and shame. SAGE Open, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019866294
Neff, K. D. (2003). Self-compassion: An alternative conceptualization of a healthy attitude toward oneself. Self and Identity, 2(2), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309032
Sedighimornani, N. (2018). Shame and its features: Understanding of shame. European Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 3(3), 75–107. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1453426
ShamsAlam, B., Farahani, H., Watson, P., & Bagheri, S. (2025). A network approach to shame: The central roles of self-criticism, self-compassion and self-forgiveness in an aged-diverse sample. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 20, Article 100890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2025.100890
Previous Speakers
Sign up to get the link to the recordings here
Life in Suspension with Death: Investigating Mind, Body and Consciousness in Tibetan Tukdam Meditation
Date: Monday, January 12, 2026
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
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Date: Monday, December 12, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
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Aging Gracefully: Cultivating Acceptance
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Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Elana Rosenbaum, MS, MSW, LICSW
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Date: Monday, October 20, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Chris Germer, PhD, Susan Pollak, MTS, Ed.D, and Ronald Siegel, PsyD
Ways of Knowing Compassion in Healthcare: A Comprehensive Examination of Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health
Date: Monday, October 6, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jennifer Mascaro, PhD
Living in Perilous Times: Bridging Inner and Outer Divides
Date: Monday, September 15, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Tara Brach, PhD
The Power of Daily Practice: Reflections on Five Years of a Shared Morning Contemplation
Date: Monday, June 2, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Narayan Helen Liebenson
What Have We Learned From Two Decades of Randomized Trials Testing Meditation-Based Interventions?
Date: Monday, May 19, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Simon Goldberg, PhD
I Move Therefore I Am: Cultivating Whole Person Health Through Mind-Body Movement in Chronic Disease
Date: Monday, May 5, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Gloria Yeh, MD, MPH
Living with Fire: Finding Calm in a Time of Uncertainty
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Pico Iyer
Mindfulness and Compassion in the Anthropocene: Reframing Meditation Practice as Fuel for Metabolizing the Difficult
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Willa B. Baker, PhD
Collective Flourishing: Reverence In A Complex World
Date: Monday, February 3, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Yuria Celidwen, PhD
Inner Refuge: Mindfulness Practices for Sustaining Strength in Crisis
Date: Monday, January 6, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Sharon Salzberg
The Cart Track: Two Approaches to Suffering
Date: Monday, December 16, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Henry Shukman, Zen teacher, author, poet
Measuring Mindfulness and Related Concepts with New PROMIS Tools
Date: Monday, December 2, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: David Victorson, Ph.D.
Finding Our True Home in the Journey
Date: Monday, November 18, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Marisela B Gomez, MS MPH PHD MD
The Hidden Conversation: Interoception's Role in Mind-Body Health and Healing
Date: Monday, November 4, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Sahib Khalsa MD, PhD
Cultural Considerations when Addressing Stress & Anxiety in Black Perinatal People: A Mindfulness Approach
Date: Monday, October 21, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM
Undoing Aloneness & Healing Attachment Wounds with AEDP
Date: Monday, September 30, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Diana Fosha, PhD
The Evolution of Self-Compassion in Healthcare: A Decade of Progress and Its Role in Combating Burnout
Date: Monday, September 16, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH and Christopher Germer, PhD
Mindful-OBOT Study- A First Look: Insights from a National Study of Live-Online Mindfulness Groups During Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
Date: Monday, June 3, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD and Joseph Rosansky, Ph.D
The PARTS Study- A First Look: Insights from Group-Based Internal Family Systems Research
Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD and additional members of the CMC team including Lexie Comeau, MA; Hanna Soumerai, LICSW; Mary Catherine Ward, LICSW; Brian Orr, LICSW, MSW; Dilara Ally PhD, LCSW; and Fiona Kate Rice, LMHC.
Biopsychosocial Approaches to Improving Cardiometabolic Conditions in African American Women through Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
Date: Monday, May 6, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Cheryl Giscombe, PhD, MA, MSN, PMHNP-BC
The Myth of Self-Improvement: Returning to the Heart of Who We Are
Date: Monday, April 22, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Caverly Morgan
Is Mindfulness Self-Help Helpful for Depression?
Date: Monday, April 1, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Professor Clara Strauss BA (Hons) PhD DClinPsy
Living Wide Awake: Turning Fear into Compassionate Action
Date: Monday, March 18, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei, MFA, LMSW, DMIN and Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei, GC-C, Co-Founders and Co-Guiding Teachers of the New York Zen Center
Breathing and the Brain: Rhythm and Emotion
Date: Monday, March 4, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jack L. Feldman, Distinguished Professor and David Geffen School of Medicine Chair in Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, UCLA
Integrating Mindfulness Into Healthcare
Date: February 12, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH
Liberation Ecotherapy: A Healing Justice Framework for Nature-based Social Prescribing for Mental Health
Date: January 29, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: J. Phoenix Smith, MSW
The Role of Mindfulness in Reversing High Blood Pressure: Clinical Trial Discoveries
Date: Monday, December 18, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Eric B. Loucks, MD
Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice
Date: Monday, December 4, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Judith L. Herman, MD
The Power of Ceremony: Indigenous Contemplative Practices, Neurodecolonization, and Indigenous Mindfulness
Date: Monday, November 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Michael Yellow Bird, MSW, PhD, Dean and Professor
Mindfulness Based Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback, Cathy Kerr Annual Memorial Lecture
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, PhD
Connecting Our Inner Work to the Outer World
Date: Monday, October 2, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Shelly Tygielski
What Actually Makes Us Happy?: Lessons from the Longest Study of Human Thriving
Date: Monday, September 18, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Robert J. Waldinger, MD
Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: Preparing a New Generation for Birthing and Beyond
Date: Monday, June 5, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Nancy Bardacke, CNM, MA and Larissa Duncan, Ph.D.
The Buddha Arrives on Turtle Island: Decolonizing the Dharma
Date: Monday, May 15, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Dr. Eduardo Duran
Building Bridges, Not Walls: Applying Lessons from Contemplative Science to Enhance Equity and Inclusion in the Classroom, Clinic & Beyond
Date: Monday, May 1, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Doris F. Chang, PhD
Mindful Medicine: Healing Burnout and Replenishing Your Energy
Date: Monday, April 3, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jan Chozen-Bays, MD
Contemplative Practices for Inclusive, Anti-Racist Clinical Engagement and Healthcare
Date: Monday, March 20, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kamilah Majied, LMSW, PhD
The Minds and Mentors Program: Promoting Peer Support in Recovery Research
Date: Monday, March 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Mercy Ngosa Mumba, PhD, RN, FAAN
Mindful Resilience And Post Traumatic Post Pandemic Growth
Date: Monday, February 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Christopher Willard, PsyD
Mindfulness, Advanced Meditation, and Future Directions for Research
Date: Monday, December 19, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D.
Finding Balance in Difficult Situations: Awareness and Wisdom as a Practice
Date: Monday, December 5, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Alexis Santos
From Beast Machines to Dream Machines
Date: Monday, November 21, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Professor Anil Seth, D.Phil, MA, MSc
How To Be Your Best: Insights From Neuroimaging To Optimize Performance
Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Lecture
Date: Monday, November 7, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Martin Paulus, MD
Radical Friendship in the Workplace: A Mindfulness Practice for Stressful Times
Date: Monday, October 17, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kate Johnson
Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement: Clinical Outcomes and Biobehavioral Mechanisms of an Evidence-Based Therapy for Chronic Pain, Opioid Misuse, and Opioid Use Disorder
Date: Monday, October 3, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Dr. Eric Garland
Befriending Eco-Anxiety: Mindful Practices for Moving Through Grief, Loss, and Change
Date: Monday, September 19, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kaira Jewel Lingo
