"What is Cognitively-Based Compassion Training" with Tim Harrison

Timothy Harrison is Associate Director for CBCT® (Cognitively- Based Compassion Training) at the Emory University Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics. He oversees the many CBCT programs, including multiple research initiatives and the rigorous teacher certification process. Tim regularly teaches CBCT nationally and internationally in academic institutions and healthcare settings, and he advises on the tailoring of CBCT for research with unique populations including cancer survivors, veterans with PTSD, HIV+ patients, and Emory medical students. Tim has a master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University has most enjoyed offering CBCT in outreach programs such as prisons and foster care homes and to teachers in the Atlanta Public School system. In this conversation Tim talks about the practice and science of CBCT. CBCT® is a cognitively-based compassion training that deliberately and systematically works to cultivate compassion. Through progressive exercises (beginning with the development of attentional stability and progressing through various analytical meditations), one gains insight into how one's attitudes and behaviors support or hinder compassionate response. The practice of CBCT intensifies the desire to help others, allowing compassion to become more natural and spontaneous in one's everyday life. It also helps increase personal resiliency by grounding one in realistic expectations of self and others. To learn more, please visit: CBCT Overview: http://compassion.emory.edu/cbct-compassion-training/index.html CBCT Courses: http://compassion.emory.edu/cbct-compassion-training/cbct-courses/index.html CBCT Research: http://compassion.emory.edu/cbct-compassion-training/research.html