Showcase Presenters

Presented by Kristine Claghorn, Creative Producer & Climate Activist
Friday and Saturday

A compassionate guide to navigating burnout, imposter syndrome, and difficult conversations to further resilience, take action, and create positive change.

Presented by Maribel Ramirez, Health and Wellness Coach
Friday and Saturday

Cultivating friendly response to anxiety through awareness & self-compassion

Presented by Laurie Flasko, CSP, CEC
Friday and Saturday

BREATH – Building Resilience | Can you relate…Are the effects of COVID-19 getting you down? Are you stuck in a rut? Have you been busy taking care of everyone else but YOU?Are you just plain tuckered out? | If you are feeling any of these and are ready for a change, this virtual course will help you breathe. Reignite your spark. Revitalize your purpose. Refresh and stand in the belief of your own greatness! This four-week virtual self-compassion and resilience program is grounded in neuroscience and the understanding of the body’s response to stress and growth. We know our body needs to breathe in and breathe out to survive. Yet in life, we continuously breathe out – giving to everyone else, and we either don’t take the time or we forget the importance of taking a breath in – of caring for ourselves. As a participant you will learn and practice skills, behaviours and actions to build resilience. These practices are aimed to enhance overall well-being especially during stressful times such as COVID. Through experiential learning exercises, self-reflection, group discussion and ongoing practice you will learn the foundations of self-compassion and start to develop lifelong habits which will help strengthen your resilience.

Presented by Susan Johnson, PhD, RN
Friday and Saturday

While my capstone project was targeted towards nurses, this session will have content for all caregivers, both formal and informal. While caregivers are naturally compassionate, no one teaches them how to mindfully and intentionally activate compassion when it does not arise spontaneously. In this presentation I will discuss a workbook I created to help nurses build a compassionate nursing practice, to develop mindful awareness and self-compassion. The presentation will include an exercise from the book.

Presented by Archana Vahalia
Friday and Saturday

When we share stories with each other, we realize that Just Like Me others have suffering and We Are Not Alone in Feeling the way we feel. In this session, we will learn to practice mindfulness techniques that can help us in our daily lives.

Presented by Barbara Easterlin, PhD
Saturday only

My Capstone Project was a full day continuing education workshop for mental health clinicians and others interested in the topic of Climate Psychology. This an emerging field in behavioral health that is developing in response to the distress therapy clients and therapists are expressing about the climate crisis (e.g.: worries about the future as well as existential issues such as whether to relocate geographically or to have children). California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) hosted the workshop. The course covered three major areas: 1) the neuropsychology and socio-political reasons we are at this stage of climate and ecological crisis, 2) its the mental health implications, 3) what clinicians can do to help clients develop resilience and find their own forms of activism. Compassion was woven into all parts of the workshop — compassion for the human condition, the planet and all of its inhabitants, as well as for how difficult this problem is to solve. Between the didactic sections of the presentation, I developed meditations, and short interpersonal processes, and role plays to help the audience learn strategies for calming their own climate anxiety and for compassionate listening to others. For the CCARE Showcase, I’ll summarize the main points of the presentation as well as lead a short experiential exercise.

Presented by Deborah Kasman MD , MA. Faculty at Professional Boundaries Education
Friday only

Healthcare providers are exhausted at this time more than ever. As a family doctor and bioethicist Dr Kasman has a lifetime focus on Healthcare provider well being. This session will review the steps taken, and project delivered, to first line healthcare providers where she was the Bioethics Director at a hospital , as well as an in-service for staff who promote required professionalism, boundaries, and civility classes to healthcare professionals who are doing remediation from a professional violation or transgression. In the session you will have a chance to experience a grounding self compassion exercise to help you in your daily lives.

Presented by Lacey Morris: LMFT Therapist
Friday and Saturday

When life happens to us, pain, struggle, heartache it is our compassion practices and core values that we can turn to to strengthen our connection to more joy and fulfillment within. In this session I will discuss a format series I have created to lead individuals through a process of deeper connection with their selves and the world at large.

Presented by Jeff Jacobs, Director, Organizational Effectiveness at Adobe
Saturday only

The word “compassionate” has come up a great deal as something we strive to be as individuals and as an important descriptor for organizations. In an independent research study, 10,000 employees identified “compassionate” as one of the top four qualities they look for in a leader. A separate study of CEOs found 92% identifying compassion as “important” or “extremely important” to their success, but the majority said they weren’t sure how to be more compassionate. Jeff Jacobs developed and shared a fast-paced and interactive workshop with over 1,000 participants to raise awareness of compassion as a true “Superpower” – what it looks like in practice, how we manage our triggers and mental models, our reaction to conflict, and the positive impact of mindfulness. He will provide an overview of his workshop and some of the lessons learned. Bring your questions about receptivity and application in the Corporate environment.

Presented by Dhruti Chakravarthi
Friday and Saturday

This capstone project focuses on designing resilient democratic systems through a compassionate auditing process. By integrating core tenets of compassion with democratic processes, the project aims to facilitate a conscious way of responding to sustainability challenges. We are at a boiling point of global emergencies and challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, a global health crisis, social inequalities and injustices. How do we facilitate consistent long-term impact in our communities and circles and overcome burnout and fear? How do we integrate compassion and positive intelligence tools into our fragile systems? This session will start with intersectional informative elements of gauging the impact of individual choices, wider systemic political narratives on the crucial developmental challenges of the 21st century. The showcase consists of an experiential element involving a taster into a compassionate auditing process for our communities and systems. The desired outcome of this session is to equip you with the knowledge and tools to foster trust and action in building resilient communities for a more sustainable world.

Presented by Tarja Wiklund, psychotherapist
Friday and Saturday

How to increase compassion in families with a compassionate card game

Presented by Pat Obuchowski, Executive Leadership Coach
Friday and Saturday

Compassionate Conversation Cafes are open virtually to individuals who want to discuss challenges and solutions to bringing compassion and self-compassion into the world. This format is a time for others to reflect on how they bring compassion to their world and to themselves. It offers a safe and confidential space where each participant is seen and heard in a non-judgmental environment. This project addresses the suffering of many during these pandemic times that are missing community, wanting to meet new people, yearning for deep conversation, alleviating the loneliness we are feeling. One participant said, “Last night was like a beautiful meditation. it was great to have a discussion about compassion as it reminds me to be more aware of when I can be compassionate.”

Presented by Jennie Moreau, Executive Speaking and Compassionate Communications Coach, Actor
Friday only

As part of a Compassionate Conversations Series, I designed and delivered workshops in the corporate world to investigate and work with triggers, both personally and professionally. With my acting students I introduced concepts of compassion to enable them to overcome nervousness, support each other, and create roles from a place of non judgment. Within my family, I was able to bear witness to my father’s death in a way I never expected, empathize with and support the healthcare workers who were part of our journey, and heal relationships with estranged family members through compassionate conversations. I will share some of the ACT techniques I used in these various settings, the impact they had on participants as well as myself, and lead people through an interactive exercise and debrief session.

Presented by Daillen Culver, Co-founder, BeDo
Friday and Saturday

Daillen is a compassion educator, social science researcher, and wellbeing consultant. This session will draw upon her 2021 ACT Capstone project—an original workshop on Compassionate Interviewing for Qualitative Research. Daillen will relate various aspects of her creative process and a synopsis of the method she has developed for practical application of compassion in the interview setting, and in social science methods more broadly. Participants will get an inside look at the Compassionate Interviewing curriculum, now offered to doctoral candidates and seasoned academics worldwide. This session will include a taster mindfulness exercise and ample time for Q&A.

Presented by Dr. Ruth Gottfried
Friday and Saturday

My Capstone Project session is relevant for helping professionals and volunteers, as well as family members and friends, caring for individuals who have experienced trauma. The learning agenda includes the following topics: 1) the definition of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), 2) the importance of addressing STS, 3) STS exposure pathways, 4) vicarious post traumatic growth, 5) compassion for self and others, and 5) experiential contemplative compassion-based practices for addressing STS.

Presented by Charah Coleman
Friday and Saturday

“Sound for the People” was founded at the intersection of my personal healing journey, my calling to hold transformative space for others, and my quest to balance holding space for others all while not draining my own emotional reserve. There is no denying that the past two years have been an exceptional time on this planet. Many of us are responsible for others, be it at home, work, or elsewhere. We are tired, we are weary, and we need deep compassionate rest. Rooted in science and research, yet honoring traditional healing techniques, acoustic (sound) vibrations can reprogram our neural pathways. Studies have shown that frequencies of quartz crystal singing bowls can activate alpha and theta brain wave frequencies, balance the hemispheres of the brain, and bring our bodies and minds to a state of deep rest. I am proud to have launched “Sound for the People” as a means to cultivate compassionate rest in others. I cannot wait to share it with you! So bring your comfy clothes, grab a good pair of headphones, and enjoy the sound therapy protocol I have prepared based on Dr. James Doty’s “Alphabet of the Heart”. I call it “The Heart of Rest”.

Presented by Helene Creager, LCSW, Applied Compassion Certified Trainer and Coach
Friday and Saturday

The Every Day Wellness Pilot Program was developed for U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services staff to provide them with skills to enhance resiliency, address empathic distress, address secondary trauma, and prevent burnout. Rather than a program that is singularly focused on mindfulness, compassion, self-compassion, or positive neuroplasticity, this Every Day Wellness pilot program used practices from all of these arenas provided within three, 1.5-to-2-hour virtual workshops. These experiential workshops demonstrated what to do and how to do it including practices that can be done in the moment at any time of the day. The Capstone Session will provide information on the structure and design of the program, impact of the program on participants and facilitator, and an update on this program post ACT graduation. The session will also include an experiential practice from the program.

Presented by Karolina Kolasa
Friday only

How to empower your kid by being a patient parent? In this session you will learn a 4 “N” method: 1. NOTICE IT, 2. NAME IT, 3. NEUROINTEGRATE IT, 4. NAIL IT*. These 4 simple steps will lead you to Nirvana in Parenting: a state of being a peaceful, joyful, present and compassionate parent. *During the session we will dive into what “IT” is and neuroprocess it together.

Presented by Misty Huckabey- Neuroscientist, MS-ACN
Friday and Saturday

Learn about the intimate relationship our brains and development share with the natural world and environment around us. This workshop will teach you what fractals are and how they can be used in everyday healing.

Presented by Pinuccia Contino, Manager and Regulator, European Commission
Friday and Saturday

How can we connect with our whole self? And can common humanity, humility, loving-kindness and compassion enhance our life purpose? My ACT 2021 Capstone Project explores these questions through meditation, experience sharing, a bit of theory and more.

Presented by Dr Neha Agrawal
Saturday only

In my Applied Compassion Capstone Project, I focused on the emotional aspect of academic feedback and specifically explored the role of compassion and self-compassion in the act of giving and receiving feedback.

Presented by Dr Robin Amerena
Friday only

The presentation will illustrate the development delivery and assessed impact of a 4 week pilot workshop in self – compassion training for health care professionals in Melbourne during covid lockdown in august September 2021.

Presented by Renda Dionne Madrigal
Friday only

Heart Story Medicine will focus on the Annishinabe story of Skywoman, exploring its indigenous female heart medicine for reclaiming compassion and strength, bringing this powerful archetype to the forefront.

Presented by Sunil Nethisinghe – Teacher & Coach Mindfulness & Compassion
Friday and Saturday

Embodiment is an essential part of Applied Compassion for impactful behavior change. Whether professional, social, or personal, challenging human relationships are golden opportunities to build such skills. The speaker will discuss guidelines for cultivating these skills with a short practice session.

Presented by Ana Contier – CONNECT – compassion for families of people with epilepsy
Saturday only

Engaging your audience is fundamental to create condition to develop compassion. I will share my experience how to do it.