St Thomas

All of the world’s major religions have some version of the teaching, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That teaching is certainly at the core of my own spirituality, and I strive (but often fall short) to live out this ideal every day. I imagine the same is true for many of the readers of this column. Some time ago, as I was reflecting on this teaching about loving your neighbor as yourself, it occurred to me that, in fact, this is precisely what most of us do. We actually do love them as we love ourselves. Last week I wrote about self-compassion and how our well-being is enhanced when we can tame our inner critic, and then truly feel love and acceptance toward ourselves. A common reaction I get when I write or talk about self-compassion and self-care is questioning whether what I’m talking about is encouraging someone to become…

My wife and have spent the last two days working at the Adolescent Health Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Two hundred professionals—school counselors, teachers, psychotherapists, physicians, and case managers—attend this annual conference put on by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Our Samaritan Family Wellness Foundation is honored to support this conference as a sponsor, as well as being presenters. The secular division of our foundation creates teen, parent, and adult resources for the professionals who are on the front lines working with the mental health challenges face by young people and their families today. The need is more significant than ever because the mental health challenges in our young people are great. One of the benefits of being at a health and wellness conference is the opportunity to learn from the experience and expertise of other presenters. A workshop on the benefits of helping teens to develop mindful self-compassion skills was the…