Book
Germer CK. The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions. New York: Guilford Press; 2009.
Why we cite it
Clinical psychologist’s guide to cultivating self-compassion through mindfulness practice, bridging Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness tradition (cross-ref csc08) and Neff’s self-compassion research (cross-ref csc10). Published one year before Germer and Neff co-developed the MSC program, this book provides the therapeutic foundation for understanding how self-compassion can be developed as a learnable skill rather than treated as a fixed personality trait. The clinical perspective adds insights absent from Neff’s research-oriented book, particularly the “backdraft” phenomenon. ABCT Self-Help Book of Merit. Referenced in companion 264 for practical self-compassion.
About the author
Christopher K. Germer (BA Psychology, Colby College, 1974; PhD Clinical Psychology, Temple University, 1984) is a clinical psychologist and Lecturer on Psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. Private psychotherapy practice since 1985 in Cambridge, MA. Founding faculty of both the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy and the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion at Cambridge Health Alliance. Co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 (cross-ref csc10); co-founded the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion in 2012. Over 250,000 people have learned MSC from 3,700+ teachers worldwide. First learned mindfulness meditation at a hermitage in Sri Lanka in 1977.
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