The Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare Advisory Board of the McGill Nursing Collaborative hosted a webinar with Dr. Marissa Knox, who presented on the topic Self-Compassion: Inner Resource for Health and Healing, on May 13th, 2021.
The webinar was the second to bring together nurses, nursing students, and faculty members from the Ingram School of Nursing, the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, and CIUSSS de l'Ouest de l'Île de Montréal to reflect on health and healing for nurses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Knox defined self-compassion through three elements:
- Mindfulness, or the ability to be mindful of our experience – noticing how we feel so we can give ourselves what we need
- Common Humanity, a connection to the human experience – recognizing that when we feel difficulty, pain, grief, loss, this is part of being human
- Self-Kindness, or treating ourselves like someone we love – applying to ourselves the care, love, compassion, and kindness we give others
She noted that it is both gentle and nurturing and also a fierce resource of strength. Self-compassion can teach us how to say no; how to stop ourselves from causing or receiving harm. Taking participants through a variety of practices, Dr. Knox reminded us that research empirically supports the value of taking the time to practice self-compassion, demonstrating that it reduces burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and a sense of depression.
Compassion is an emotion that is associated with parts of the brain that are responsible for reward. So we get energy from being compassionate. It is a renewable resource that keeps us fulfilled to keep doing difficult things… compassion is an energizing, nourishing resource.
We are pleased to share a recording of the webinar, in the hopes that it will provide more nurses with an opportunity to reflect on their own health and healing and that of their patients, families, and healthcare teams.
About the presenter:
Marissa Knox, PhD is a trained Mindful Self-Compassion teacher and focuses her research on how self-compassion relates to multidimensional wellbeing and healthy body image. In her recent projects, she supported the adaptation of a brief self-compassion curriculum for healthcare professionals (SCHC) and implemented interventions to reduce their stress and improve coping. Marissa has taught self-compassion programs to mental health professionals, educators, students, and parents of children with chronic and complex illnesses. It is her passion to support others in cultivating integrity and compassionate wisdom through talks and workshops that include reflective writing, contemplation, and embodiment practices.