Cultivating Presence & Self-Compassion for Therapists’ Self-Care with Dr. Shari Geller, Ph.D., C. Psych

Please join Dr. Shari Geller for a talk on therapeutic presence (TP), self-compassion, and self-care for therapists. Offering compassionate care, sustained attention, and psychotherapy, without a balance of compassion and care for self, can lead to burn-out and exhaustion.

This talk will explore the relationship of mindful self-compassion (Neff and Germer, 2018) and therapeutic presence (Geller, 2017; Geller & Greenberg, 2012, 2023), with a particular focus on effective therapeutic relationships and therapist well-being. Since presence and self-compassion need to be directly experienced to be understood, this will include a brief introduction to the topic and experiential practice.

Therapeutic presence is a way of being that optimises the doing and techniques of therapy and for clinical relationships. TP provides clients with a sense of safety, allowing them to be seen, heard, understood, and “feel felt,” while also strengthening the therapeutic alliance. TP also invites clinicians to work on their own balance of presence and compassion with self and clients, ensuring they remain centred and effective.

Self-compassion is a key resource in maintaining clinicians’ presence and working with the barriers to presence. SC involves meeting our emotions and difficult experience with mindfulness, common humanity, kindness, and warmth. Research shows that self- compassion is also strongly associated with emotional well-being, healthy habits, and more fulfilling relationships.

Therapeutic presence and self-compassion are key underlying factors in effective therapeutic relationships and are intimately related to one another. Self-compassion allows clinicians to return to presence when they are challenged by difficult emotions or stress. Together, therapeutic presence and self-compassion are powerful resources for counsellors to maintain emotional balance in the midst of challenging clinical work and
to prevent caregiver fatigue and burn-out.

Dr. Shari Geller is an author, clinical psychologist, and certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher, offering training modules in therapeutic presence internationally as part of a longer-term vision of having presence be a foundational training across psychotherapy approaches. Shari co-authored the book, Therapeutic Presence: A Mindful Approach to Effective Therapeutic Relationships – 2 nd  Edition (2022) with Dr. Leslie Greenberg. Shari’s book: A Practical Guide For Cultivating Therapeutic Presence (2017), offers hands on tools and guidance for cultivating and strengthening presence in therapy. Shari is a co-editor on a new book: Grounding Psychotherapy in Self-Compassion (2025).

Shari is the co-director of the Centre for MindBody Health, in Toronto, where she offers training, supervision and therapy in Emotion-Focused therapy (EFT) and Mindfulness and Self-Compassion modalities for individuals and couples. She is a therapist, supervisor, and trainer in Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT). Shari serves on the teaching faculty in Health Psychology at York University and is Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, in association with Music and Health Research Collaboratory (MaHRC). She is a co-developer and part of the core faculty of the Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy (SCIP) certificate program and is Membership and Networking Committee Chair for the International Society for Emotion Focused Therapy (isEFT). Shari enjoys playing the HandPan and djembe and founded the Therapeutic Rhythm and Mindfulness Program (TRM™). Her love of nature and her dogs, along with her 35-year personal meditation practice help to keep her present in the moment.

For more about Shari click on:  https://www.sharigeller.ca/ or  https://www.cmbh.ca/

For more information about Mindfulness Toronto go to: https://mindfulnesstoronto.net/

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