Struggling with self-criticism?
This course is for you if you..
- Have a harsh inner critic that keeps telling you you’re “not enough”
- Feel shame, guilt, or pressure when you make mistakes
- Support others but rarely offer the same care to yourself
- Feel stress, burnout, or perfectionism taking a toll on your well‑being
- Want practical tools to respond to difficult moments with kindness instead of judgment
Or you’re interested in becoming an MSC teacher, and you…
- Want a solid, embodied experience of mindful self‑compassion before teaching it to others
- Need to complete an 8‑week MSC course as a prerequisite for official MSC teacher training
- Value a structured, research‑informed program to deepen your own practice and confidence
Whether you join for personal healing, professional development, or both, this course gives you a grounded, experiential foundation in mindful self‑compassion.
I'M INTERESTED!MSC Live Online Course Details
- Live weekly sessions on Zoom
- Tuesday evenings, 5:00–7:30 pm CT
- June 23 – August 11 (8 weeks)
- Optional Silent Retreat on July 25, 10-1pm CT
What to Expect:
Teaching + guided practice: Each week includes brief talks, guided meditations, experiential exercises, and reflection.
Small‑group sharing (optional): You’ll have the option (never the obligation) to share in pairs or small groups to deepen learning and connection.
Between‑session practices: We'll give you simple daily practices and reflections to help you integrate self‑compassion into everyday life.
Enroll in MSC Course
Ashley Kuchar, PhD
Ashley earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin, where she worked closely with Dr. Kristin Neff to study self‑compassion, resilience, and performance. For her dissertation, she developed and tested a resilience program for athletes called RESET, which has been shown to help athletes reduce anxiety, build confidence, improve performance, and bounce forward from setbacks.
Ashley is a mindset coach, educator, and speaker who is passionate about helping athletes, coaches, and professionals respond to challenges in ways that build resilience rather than relying on harsh self‑criticism. She is also a lecturer at UT Austin, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Mindfulness, Compassion, and the Self.
Ashley is a trained Mindful Self‑Compassion teacher and focuses on bringing self‑compassion skills to athletes and leaders through her RESET course and instructor training. She aims to create an environment that is relatable, meaningful, and fun.
Paulina Trujillo Perez, LMFT
Paulina was born and raised in Chiapas, Mexico. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Universidad de las Américas Puebla and her M.A. in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado—a Buddhist-inspired institution where she deepened her study of mindfulness and Gestalt therapy.
Paulina is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California and has worked across community mental health, school settings, and private practice, providing therapy to English- and Spanish-speaking children, adults and couples. She is a Certified Gestalt Therapist through the Pacific Gestalt Institute, where she also serves as core faculty, and currently works as a research coordinator at UT Austin’s Memory and Aging Lab.
In addition, Paulina is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher and a Mindful Self-Compassion teacher in training. She brings a warm, genuine presence to her work—and doesn’t take herself too seriously.
What is Mindful Self-Compassion?
Mindful Self‑Compassion (MSC) is an empirically supported 8‑week training program, developed by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer, that teaches people to respond to difficult moments with kindness, care, and understanding instead of harsh self‑criticism.
MSC is grounded in three components of self‑compassion: self‑kindness (treating ourselves with warmth rather than judgment), common humanity (recognizing that struggle is part of being human, so we’re not alone), and mindfulness (noticing our experience with balanced, present‑moment awareness).
Together, these foster a warm‑hearted, connected presence that can be learned by anyone and has been linked in research to greater emotional well‑being, less anxiety, depression and stress, healthier habits, and more satisfying relationships.
MSC Course Outline
Session 1: Introduction to Mindful Self-Compassion
Session 2: Practicing Mindfulness
Session 3: Practicing Kindness
Session 4: Discovering Your Compassionate Voice
Session 5: Living Deeply
*Silent Retreat*
Session 6: Meeting Difficult Emotions
Session 7: Exploring Challenging Relationships
Session 8: Embracing Your Life
*Each student is encouraged to purchase their own copy of the MSC Workbook (available on Amazon and other retailers)
By the end of these 8 weeks, you’ll be able to…
✅ Recognize your inner critic and respond with mindful awareness instead of automatic self‑attack
✅ Use concrete self‑compassion practices in real‑time when you feel stressed, ashamed, or overwhelmed
✅ Soften shame and perfectionism while still staying aligned with your values and goals
✅ Speak to yourself in a kinder, more supportive way that builds resilience rather than fear
✅ Feel more connected to others instead of isolated in your struggles
✅ For aspiring MSC teachers: have the lived experience and prerequisite course many teacher‑training programs require
Note: You don’t need to be “good at meditation” to benefit. Small, consistent practices add up.
SIGN ME UP!HAVE QUESTIONS?
Send us a message and we'll get back to you within 48 hours.
