Compassion and Presence

A skills workshop for professionals and trained volunteers working in healthcare, social and human services and health education. Responding effectively to the needs of patients and clients remains an on-going professional and deeply personal challenge. In this skills workshop, you will learn contemplative tools that can support you towards developing greater resilience in your life and work, and can enhance the way you offer compassionate care.

• How can we stay present to our patients’ experience of pain, loss or grief?
• How can we sustain a compassionate attitude?
• How can we respond to our patients’ needs and challenging situations?
• How can we work with stress and fatigue in our work and lives?

Step-by-step, Kirsten and John will explore practical ways to use mindfulness, meditation and loving-kindness appropriately in any care setting as well as your own practice of self-care. The schedule allows time for relaxation, rest and to enjoy the breathtaking natural setting of the retreat center overlooking the Beara peninsula and the wild Atlantic.

Who is it for?

Compassion and Presence welcomes all those who provide care in hospitals, hospices and care organisations, social work, health care education, and other allied health professions, whether brand new to the practice of mindfulness or meditation, or experienced.

The workshop focuses on four core competencies:

• Holding authentic presence and communication
• Deepening our ability to extend compassion toward ourselves and others
• Developing a personal understanding of the needs of clients and patients
• Maintaining a warm and open presence when responding to distress and pain

Methodology

Short talks, discussion, reflection, guided meditations, and interactive exercises for integrating learning.

Training topics

• Cultivating presence through meditation and mindfulness practices
• Methods for deepening compassion
• Training in a contemplative listening model that integrates meditation and compassion methods into communication
• Developing an understanding of compassionate self-care to strengthen resilience, reduce stress, and transform challenging situations
• Research on the benefits meditation and compassion in care work

Schedule

Tuesday 

11-1pm with tea break Welcome Session

3-6pm   with tea break Session 1

6:45-7:30pm Session 2

Wednesday

10-1pm with tea break Session 3

3:30-6pm with tea break Session 4

Thursday 

10-1pm with tea break Session 5 and Conclusion

Compassion and Presence is part of a certificate programme in contemplative end-of-life care offered by Authentic Presence. To find out more, please visit, www.authentic-presence.org

Location

The retreat will be held in our Spiritual Care Centre meditation room with expansive views across the bay.

Catering
Delicious two course vegetarian lunches, with soup and bread in the evenings. Cooked with love at Dzogchen Beara, using homegrown and organic ingredients whenever possible. Tea and coffee.