Related Websites
Academic websites
Increasingly academics are looking at compassion and developing methods for their study. Here are some websites that may be of interest:
Dr Kristin Neff is a social psychologist and long-term Buddhist practitioner who has pioneered research into self-compassion, developed a self-compassion scale for use in research and has written extensively on the distinctions between self-compassion and self-esteem. www.self-compassion.org
The link below is the Greater Good Science Centre at Berkeley Univesity, CA. http://greatergoodmag.org
Below is the link to the Mental Health Research Unit www.derby.ac.uk/schools/fehs/research/mhru
Maureen Cooper has put together an excellent website which includes extremely informatative videos. These cover intereviews with top scientists researching compassion and short talks by Budhhists and others. Do have a look. www.awarenessinaction.org
Have a look especially at
www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/191
www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/16
Richard Davidson has been active in the research on affective disorders and compassion. A key paper is Lutz et al (2004). Long term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101, 16369-16373. You can check out some of his publications at
http://psyphz.psychwisc.edu/web/pubs.html
Other useful pieces are at:
http://brainimaging.waisman.wisc.edu/
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/full/65/4/564
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4846933362481486227&pr=goog-sl new
This link will take you to the conference held in April on the seeds of compassion which brought the Dalai Lama together with a number of neuroscientists discussing their work on brain scanning child development and many other areas
http://www.seedsofcompassion.org/webcast/index.html new
There are a number of websites that are working in Buddhist traditions and/or looking at the interface between Buddhism and western psychology. Here are some websites that are related to compassion:
This website has been developed jointly with the Dalai Lama and western scientists exploring the nature of compassion and how to develop more compassionate life-styles. www.mindandlife.org
Padmaloka is a Buddhist Retreat Centre located in East Anglia and has been running retreats since 1976 with a special focus on compassion. www.padmaloka.org.uk
An interesting series of talks on compassion and mindfulness. www.dharmaseed.org
Gaia House is a non-sectarian Buddhist retreat centre in Devon which also offers several retreats with an emphasis on compassion as well as mindfulness retreats. www.gaiahouse.co.uk
The Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education (Canada) can be found at: www.dalailamacenter.org
This website gives details of Buddhis retreat centres in the U.K. www.goingonretreat.com
Anyone interested in actively supporting the meditative practices of prisoners could try contacting Ray Olson through the Upaya Prison Project, an outgrowth of Roshi Joan Halifax's Upaya Center for Being with Dying.
www.upaya.org
There are various websites which provide information on the approach of Thich Naht. These can be found at http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com
There are also various courses that can be undertaken via email and these can be found at
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=24
There is a very interesting magazine on Buddist issues that you can view at www.thebuddhadharma.com/index.php
Recently Sharon Salzberg and Daniel Goleman have discussed compassion issues for a transcript see: www.tricycle.com/issues/editors_pick/3675-1.html
You can find a video introducing Jon Kabat-Zinn at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc
This is Daniel's Siegel's website, a leading researcher on neurobiology mindfulness compassion and clinical issues. A very useful and important website for those interested in integrating neurobiology and compassion in therapy. new
www.mindsightinstitute.com
Evolutionary Approaches websites
The Compassionate Mind Foundation integrates evolutionary approaches. Randy Nesse has written a lot on evolutionary approaches and in particular on themes of altruism and commitment. Some of his papers are downloadable. His website can be found at http://nesse.us
This will take you to an interesting audio of an Australian discussion on evolutionary approaches to psychotherapy. It is a very helpful introduction by my friend Dan Wilson. All very de-pathologising.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2008/2217264.htm new
Forgiveness websites
Forgiveness is now recognised to be a key process in facilitating positive relationships. It is an outcome of developing various compassion qualities. There are some interesting websites below:
www.cyberpauken.com/forgiveness.ppt
Enwright has set up the Forgiveness Institute, which offers very useful ideas and resources for studying forgiveness. www.forgiveness-institute.org
Happiness websites
Happiness and wellbeing have been linked to the cultivation of both compassion to others and self-compassion. Hence compassion focused work is very influenced by research on happiness and wellbeing.
The Society of Quality of Life Studies. www.cob.vt.edu/market/isqols
A European site with a large and useful directory of happiness research and related materials. www.eur.nl/fsw/research/happiness
Another European network which is focused on positive psychology is www.enpp.org
An organisation that is developing fascinating conferences can be found at www.happinessanditscauses.org
There is a research group in Cambridge that is focusing on wellbeing. www.cambridgewellbeing.org
A website that links compassion and happiness can be found at: www.essential-education.org
Martin Seligman's Research Alliance on Positive Psychology can be found at www.positivepsychology.org See also his website: www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu which offers various measures of happiness and other questionnaires on positive psychology that one can take for oneself.
The BBC have developed a series of programmes called The Happiness Formula and can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/
The following link is to Barbara Fredrickson's work on positive affect. www.PositiveEmotions.org
The Hawn Foundation are working towards bringing together different groups to focus on various aspects of happiness. www.thehawnfoundation.org
Therapy websites
Dr Steve Hayes has developed commitment acceptance therapy which is based on behaviioural principles. The focus and work around acceptance and also how to develop goals we commit ourselves to have clear contributions to make to compassion focused work. www.acceptanceandcommitmenttherapy.com
Dr Masha Linehan pioneered work in the combining of behavioural and Zen Buddhist philosophies and techniques. This approach is called Dialectical behaviour therapy and has accumulated extensive research evidence for its value. http://faculty.washington.edu/linehan
Compassionate Mind Training, developed Paul Gilbert emerged out of using CBT approaches. The new International Journal of Cognitive Therapy is sponsoring a special issue devoted to compassion which will appear within the next few years. The website for the International organisation can be found at www.the-iacp.com
Whilst we have done our best to ensure the appropriateness of websites, they are for information only. We are unable to take responsibility for any information contained therein. Buddhist websitesThis link will take you to a fascinating one-hour documentary on neuroplasticity. The documentary starts with an exploration of brain scanning studies of meditators, looks at how training can affect memory and cognitive processes in old age and also in recovery from strokes. The basic story is that training can change the way neurons connect; we can change our brains