Welcome back to Savvy Psychologist. I'm your interim host, Dr. Ellen Hendrickson,

and for the next few weeks, I'll help you face life's challenges with evidence-based approaches,

a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment. Self-compassion intuitively sounds great, and in a challenging and competitive world,

who couldn't use a little more compassion for themselves? The data say it's great, too,

like a meta-analysis of more than 16,000 people over nearly 80 studies that found a robust

connection between self-compassion and well-being.

Formally defined, self-compassion means treating yourself with kindness and understanding

in the face of failures or shortcomings instead of being harsh and critical of yourself.

It seems simple enough, but like confidence or authenticity, self-compassion is one of those things

that's easy to understand, but way harder to implement in real life. Those of us with a strong

inner critic have a particularly hard time with self-compassion. Why? Well, self-compassion, as defined by researcher Dr. Kristen Neff,

consists of three components, self-kindness, non-judgmental mindfulness, and connection to the

larger human experience. But those of us who are wired to be our own worst critics are reverse

threaded on all three of those things.

We're tough on ourselves rather than kind, fault-finding rather than non-judgmental,

and see our struggles as shortcomings that isolate us rather than common experiences that connect

us to others. In short, self-compassion is the opposite of self-criticism in not one, but all three

ways. No wonder we face plant when we try it. Therefore, this week, let's cover three truths

about self-compassion that helped me understand and implement self-compassion in both my

clinical practice and my life. I hope they're helpful

to you too. Truth number one is self-compassion starts with turning towards our own pain,

stress, and anxiety rather than avoiding it. It sounds so basic, but when I heard it presented

...