Compassion Cultivation Training

taught by Maya Nader

Course Description

Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) is an eight-week course designed to enhance the qualities of strength, courage and resilience. We meet once a week for 2 hours to learn how to integrate meditation into our urban, busy lives. Through in-class interaction, we pause and reassess the business and meaning of our lives. Scientific research and contemporary psychology on compassion reconnect us to our innate compassion and inform a more mindful state of mind. We engage in group exercises and discussions to seek ways to let our empathy arise without feeling overwhelmed. The program was developed at Stanford University Medical School's Center for Compassion and Altrusim Research and Education (CCARE), by a team of contemplative scholars, clinical psychologists and researchers.

Research indicates that CCT increases compassion for others, from others, and for self. It also: 

• Increases mindfulness skills, self-efficacy, care for self and others, and mind wandering toward pleasant topics.
• Decreases worry and mind wandering onto unpleasant topics.

The CCT program consists of 6 steps over 8 sessions:

Step 1, Session 1 involves settling the mind and neutrally observing one's own thoughts and emotions

Step 2, Session 2, teaches participants how to cultivate loving-kindness and compassion for a loved one

Step 3, Session 3 & 4, helps the participant develop loving-kindness and compassion for oneself

Step 4, Session 5, establishes our shared common humanity, recognizing the interdependence of all living creatures and our fragile blue planet

Step 5, Session 6, deepens the ability to cultivate compassion toward all others, including those we perceive as difficult

Step 6, Session 7, involves visualizing transforming others' pain and suffering and offering them one's own happiness and joy

Session 8, the course culminates with an integrated daily compassion meditation practice

Class size: 6-15 participants 

Pricing and Scholarships 

The course fee is $300.

If you are interested in financial assistance, CCFW offers two options:

• Income-based reduced fee of $225, available to individuals with an annual household income from all sources of $60,000 or less. For more details, please email mindfulness@uw.edu 
• A limited number of scholarships are available per course. To apply for a scholarship, please review criteria and complete the application form at https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/mindful/237140  Note: Scholarship applicants will be notified no later than 3 weeks prior to the first day of class (12/27/16). Applicants must wait to register for the course until a decision has been made in order to qualify.  

If you are a UW Affiliate and have department approval to pay using a UW budget transfer, you may register for a 25% discount ($225). Please add your department budget number at check out.

Continuing Education Credits

Pay an extra $5 at registration to receive a Certificate of Completion for 16 credit hours for licensed psychologists, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and social workers in Washington State. Please note: the fee for requesting a Certificate of Completion for credit hours AFTER the course begins is $20. 

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel up to two weeks prior to the event (1/3/16), you will receive a full refund less a $5 processing fee. If you cancel within two weeks leading up to the event, you will receive a partial refund of 50% minus a $5 processing fee. Refunds cannot be granted on or after the day the class begins.

Pay it Forward - Support the Scholarship Fund

If you are able to pay more for the course, we encourage you to consider donating to the Mindfulness Outreach Fund which allows CCFW to offer 50% and 100% scholarships to community members to aid in the cost of registration fees for mindfulness courses. Scholarships are awarded to increase accessibility of mindfulness and compassion training for individuals who have limited resources to obtain such training and to those who work in communities experiencing adversity. To make a donation to the scholarship fund, please visit http://giving.uw.edu/mindfulness

Class Schedule

8-Class Sessions: Tuesdays, January 17, 2017 through March 7, 2017, from 6:00pm - 8:00pm 

Tuesday, January 17, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm  

Tuesday, January 31, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm  

Tuesday, February 7, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm  

Tuesday, February 14, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm  

Tuesday, February 21, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm 

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 6:00pm - 8:00pm 

About the Instructor

Maya Nader is a certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) instructor by CCARE, Stanford University. A native of Beirut, Lebanon, Maya earned her B.A. in Political Science from American University of Beirut. She moved to the US in 1989 at the height of the Lebanese war. As she continued her quest for peace in her country and region, Maya obtained a Master's degree in Communication and Marketing from Boston University. She speaks French, Arabic and English and is grateful for the cultural richness these languages encompass. Through this lens, Maya views compassion as a bridge between cultures and religions and as the cornerstone of a more peaceful world. In her teaching CCT, Maya continues to practice self-help and assist others in broadening compassion, which ultimately creates opportunities for peace. More on Maya Nadar https://mayanader.com/

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