Fierce Self Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive

From the Show: HER
Summary: Have you been struggling this past year, wondering how you're going to get through it? Maybe feeling lost, down, shame blame, and guilt. Well, have you tried a little self-compassion yet?
Air Date: 7/15/21
Duration: 46:02
Host: Pam Peeke, MD
Guest Bio: Dr. Kristin Neff
Dr. Kristin Neff received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley and is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

During Kristin’s last year of graduate school, she became interested in Buddhism and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her postdoctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically. Kristin is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, creating a scale to measure the construct almost 20 years years ago. In addition to writing numerous academic articles and book chapters on the topic, she is the author of the book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, and in June 2021 she will be releasing her new book Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power and Thrive.

In conjunction with her colleague Dr. Chris Germer, she has developed an empirically supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which is taught by thousands of teachers worldwide. They co-authored The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook as well as Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals. She is also co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.

Instagram: @NeffSelfCompassion


  • Book Title: Fierce Self Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive
  • Guest Facebook Account: https://www.facebook.com/selfcompassion
  • Guest Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/self_compassion
Fierce Self Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive
Have you been struggling this past year, wondering how you're going to get through it? Maybe feeling lost, down, shame blame, and guilt. Well, have you tried a little self-compassion yet?

There's no one better to discuss this topic with than Dr. Kristen Neff. Dr. Neff received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley and is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

During Kristin’s last year of graduate school, she became interested in Buddhism and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her postdoctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically.

Today we talk gender roles, her brand of "feminism meets self-help," and dive into her books, including her latest, Fierce Self Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive.