8-Week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an 8-week, evidence-based, experiential program that combines cognitive therapy approaches with mindfulness meditation to cultivate present-moment, non-judgmental awareness. MBCT is designed to build resilience and support relapse prevention for recurring patterns of low mood, stress, anxiety, and depression.

Through weekly experiential sessions, participants learn to recognize unhelpful patterns of thinking, relate differently to difficult emotions, and respond to life’s challenges with greater clarity and choice.

8-Week Self-Compassion for Shame: Returning Home to Yourself

What would happen if, in moments of shame, you could care for yourself instead of going small, attacking yourself, or shutting down?

8-Week Self-Compassion for Shame: Returning Home to Yourself is a groundbreaking online program developed by Dr. Chris Germer, Natalie Bell, and the SC-Shame development team. The course takes a non-pathological look at shame through the lens of mindful self-compassion and explores why self-compassion is an antidote to shame.

Mindfulness for Teens (Ages 13-17)

In today’s world, teens and pre-teens face increasing pressure from technology, academic demands, and major life transitions. These stressors can affect both physical and emotional well-being and make it harder to feel steady, focused, and connected.

This course teaches practical mindfulness skills to help teens navigate change, reduce reactivity, and make healthier choices. Students strengthen attention, emotional regulation, and self-care through guided practice and supportive discussion.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an evidence-based, 8-week program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn that helps participants build mindfulness skills to relate differently to stress, health concerns, and everyday challenges.

Through weekly sessions that include guided meditation, mindful movement, and inquiry, participants learn to cultivate greater awareness, compassion, and steadiness. The program supports developing the ability to respond with more choice rather than reacting on autopilot.

8-Week Deeper Mindfulness

There are moments in everyday life that shape what happens next: how we interpret events, react, and move forward. What if you could recognize those turning points earlier, before stress or reactivity takes over, and use them to return to clarity and calm?

Deeper Mindfulness is an innovative 8-week course that blends mindfulness meditation with neuroscience to explore “feeling tone”: the subtle emotional backdrop that colors experience. Feeling tone can be the tipping point into habitual reactions, and learning to notice it sooner can help you regain balance in a chaotic world.

8-Week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an 8-week, evidence-based program that integrates mindfulness practice with cognitive therapy tools to help reduce stress, support emotional balance, and prevent relapse of depression and anxiety.

Through weekly experiential sessions—including guided meditation, mindful movement, and cognitive inquiry—participants learn to recognize unhelpful thinking patterns, relate differently to difficult emotions, and respond to challenges with greater clarity and self-compassion.

The Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion

The Short Course in Mindful Self-Compassion (SC-MSC) is a six-week adaptation of the empirically supported eight-week Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program, designed to introduce the core skills of self-compassion with a reduced time commitment. Developed by Kristin Neff, PhD, a pioneering researcher in self-compassion, and Christopher Germer, PhD, a leader in mindfulness- and compassion-based psychotherapy, SC-MSC offers a focused and accessible entry point into this work.

Helen Hyun-Chung Kim Profile

First Name
Helen
Last Name
Kim
Institution Affiliation
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Helen Hyun-Chung Kim
Titles
Certified MBSR Teacher, Certified MBCT Teacher
Organizational Roles
Short Bio

Helen Hyun-Chung Kim is a Certified MBSR and MBCT teacher and former psychiatrist. She brings deep compassion and clinical insight to her mindfulness teaching, supporting healing, awareness, and self-discovery.

Bio

Helen Hyun-Chung Kim is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy teacher. In her previous life she was a board-certified psychiatrist in Korea for 15 years, serving underserved communities. During that time she witnessed profound suffering in her patients and felt drawn toward mindfulness and self-compassion as paths toward healing.

With guidance from founding director Dr. Steve Hickman, Helen joined UC San Diego’s Center for Mindfulness, where she studied a range of mindfulness-based programs with many respected teachers. Through this journey she developed a grounded foundation rooted in awareness, acceptance, ease, and compassion.

Helen is committed to sharing what she has learned with others on their own paths of healing and self-discovery, offering a warm, steady presence shaped by both clinical experience and contemplative practice.

Cassandra Vieten Profile

First Name
Cassandra
Last Name
Vieten
Credentials (Display)
PhD
Institution Affiliation
REACH Roles
Leadership
Co-PI
Mentor
Scientist
UCSD REACH Team
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Cassandra Vieten, PhD
Titles
Clinical Professor, Family Medicine; Director, Center for Mindfulness
Research Areas
Mind-body interventions, mindfulness, compassion science
Short Bio

Cassandra Vieten, PhD, is Clinical Professor and Director of the Center for Mindfulness at the Centers for Integrative Health in the Department of Family Medicine at UC San Diego. Her research focuses on mindfulness-based interventions, spirituality and health, and transformative experiences that support emotional well-being.

Bio

Cassandra Vieten is Clinical Professor and Director of the Center for Mindfulness at the Centers for Integrative Health in the Department of Family Medicine at UC San Diego. She is also Director of Research at the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination and Clinical Psychology Director at the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative at UCSD. She is Senior Advisor of the John W. Brick Mental Health Foundation where she served as Executive Director from 2019-2023, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, where she served as President from 2013-2019.

Her research has focused on spirituality and health, transformative experiences and practices, the development of mindfulness-based interventions for emotional well-being, and development of media technologies to inspire awe. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and completed her research training in behavioral genetics at UC San Francisco. She has authored three books, published numerous articles in scientific journals, and is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and workshop leader.